2012 Mosman Art Prize
The Mosman Art Prize is an annual, acquisitive award for painting sponsored by Mosman Municipal Council.
- David Fairbairn, Winner 2012 Mosman Art Prize for Seated Figure J.B. with orange ground
- John Bartley, Winner of the Henry Bucks Commendation Prize for Sirens Song
- Jerzy Michalski, Winner of the Alan Gamble Memorial Art Prize for Time Study
- Clara Adolphs, Winner of the Fourth Village Providore Young Emerging Artist Award for New Tricks
- Carla Hananiah, Winner of the Mosman Art Society Viewers Choice Prize
- Selected entries
Established in 1947, the Prize is one of the oldest and most prestigious, local government art awards in Australia. The winning works form an outstanding collection of modern and contemporary art, reflecting developments in Australian art practice over the last half a century. Works from the collection are regularly displayed in the Mosman Art Gallery & Community Centre, Mosman Council and Mosman Library.
The winner of the first Mosman Art Prize, judged by Lloyd Rees in 1947, was Margaret Olley. Subsequent Prize winners include many prominent artists such as Grace Cossington Smith, Weaver Hawkins, Nancy Borlase, Anthony Galbraith, Elisabeth Cummings, Janet Dawson, Jenny Sages and Tim Johnson. The 2011 Mosman Art Prize was won by Kerry Lester. Past adjudicators of the Prize have also included prominent figures in the Australian art world such as Margaret Preston, John Olsen, Tim Storrier, Edmund Capon and Margaret Olley.
The 2012 Mosman Art Prize was judged by Anne Flanagan, Deputy Director, Art Gallery of New South Wales.
While Mosman Council sponsors the major prize of $30,000 (acquisitive), the Commendation Prize of $5,000 (non-acquisitive) is sponsored by Henry Bucks, other sponsors include the Fourth Village Providore Young Emerging Artists’ Award (under 35 years) $2,000 and the Mosman Art Society Viewers’ Choice Award for $1,000. The Mosman Art Gallery is indebted to these sponsors for their generous support and commitment to the Mosman Art Prize.
In addition to the major prize of $30,000, Mosman Council sponsors the Allan Gamble Memorial Art Prize. An accomplished architect and artist, and Mosman Councillor for 24 years, Allan Gamble was the founder of the Mosman Art Prize. Valued at $3,000 (non-acquisitive), the prize is awarded to the best painting which explores the theme of ‘the built environment’.
David Fairbairn, Winner 2012 Mosman Art Prize for Seated Figure J.B. with orange ground
David Fairbairn, Seated Figure J.B. with orange ground
Artist Statement
My portraits are not only about the physical and psychological aspects of the sitter and the artist but also as much about the process of drawing and painting itself.
I like to work with a variety of mediums, including acrylic, gouache, pastel, ink, etching, collage and charcoal which incorporate a kind of architectural approach, building one layer on top of another until a sustained image evolves. Ultimately all that really matters is the authenticity of the image.
My practise is to work from a number of sitters who are invited to spend a period of time posing for me on a regular basis. I choose my sitters for a variety of reasons, the overriding criteria would be whether their “look” and “spirit” inspires me to want to paint and draw them over a period that might continue for two years or more during which time a large body of work is completed.
The work included in this years Mosman Art Prize is one of a series completed of James Barker over an eight month period in 2011. James is a painter of still life and landscape, who at 80 continues to live and work in Sydney. A number of large scale works, one of which was in this years 2012 Archibald prize was completed as well as a number of medium and smaller sized works and countless gouache, pen and ink studies plus a set of small etchings.
For me the traditional practise of portraiture – the length of time spent with a sitter, the day to day stopping and starting of a work as the series develops over time, and even the subtle daily differences that exist in both subject and artist, are factors that contribute to the interpretation of the work.
Much of the impetus for my work draws on past artistic traditions for example the work of Francis Bacon, Leon Kossoff, and Lucien Freud.
David Fairbairn
David Fairbairn is one of Australia’s most prominent artists working predominantly in mixed media to explore the psychological and structural nature of portraiture.
Originally from the UK where he received his training in art, he has since received over forty awards and prizes. In 2012 he was selected as a finalist in the Dobell Drawing Prize for the fifteenth time and he has shown in the Archibald Prize eight times.
Fairbairn teaches at the National Art School, Sydney and has had nearly twenty solo exhibitions since 1981 and been in over eighty group exhibitions. He is extensively represented in both public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Australia,
John Bartley, Winner of the Henry Bucks Commendation Prize for Sirens Song
John Bartley, Sirens Song
Artist Statement
“Sirens Song” is from my last show at Watters Gallery.
The exhibition was titled “Songs to the Siren”.
This painting was by far and away peoples favourite.
It has had a previous life as a painting titled “Flow” it was a vertical and a little rawer than it is now.
I really liked it.
It hung around for many years without finding a home.
It always wanted to become a landscape though.
So I turned it on its side and started making marks – it came together beautifully.
The picture painted itself really.
I like it even more now.“Songs to the siren” is a piece of music written by Tim Buckley.
The version I love is performed by This Mortal Coil.
Sirens Song suits this piece of music perfectly.Music is an important part of my picture making.
I generally listen to melancholy or heart felt voices in the studio.
I can play the same pieces over and over.
To me, my paintings are by-products of listening to music.
John Bartley
John Bartley studied art at East Sydney Technical College, now the National Art School. After graduating in 1988, he won the Mosman Art Prize in 1990 for his work Bull ants, blowflies and burnt chops and began exhibiting at Legge Gallery. He has exhibited in group shows at numerous regional galleries and has exhibited six times in the Salon de Refuses at the S.H. Ervin Gallery. Currrently represented by Watters Gallery, Bartley explores the act of abstract painting through his connection with the music which accompanies his work in the studio.
Jerzy Michalski, Winner of the Alan Gamble Memorial Art Prize for Time Study
Jerzy Michalski, Time Study
Artist Statement
As a painter of cityscapes and architectural interiors, I generally choose to let the viewer interpret the painting’s several meanings in light of their own personal life experiences.
I can, however, offer a few comments on what was going through my mind as I painted “Time”.
At this time in my life, I am at a “still point” reflecting on what has come before me and what might come after. For sixty two years I have been a passenger on the train of life and have literally and figuratively gone to many places and experienced much.
Perspective and colour are combined to provide an illusion of space as metaphorically charged. The larger than life sized station clock, the empty station except one lone male looking away, the columns, the bench, the blank station boards suspended from the ceiling, and, the several colours that comprise the back wall: all have symbolic meaning.
Something is happening in this painting. It is not passive. It is up to the viewer to be moved along.
Jerzy Michalski
Jerzy Michalski is a highly recognised and qualified Tasmanian artist who exhibits both nationally and internationally. His genre takes inspiration from the studied interior, the structure of spaces, the classical reference and the inner self within urban places. Drawing on his academic training and profession in Poland, Michalski has created a strong reputation throughout Australia, with regular exhibitions in leading galleries in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Hobart, as well as European exhibitions in France, Belgium, Poland and Germany. He was offered Australian residency as a distinguished painter in 1992 and has lived in Tasmania since.
Clara Adolphs, Winner of the Fourth Village Providore Young Emerging Artist Award for New Tricks
Clara Adolphs, New Tricks
Artist Statement
New Tricks is a recreation of an old photograph from the 1930s.
I work with anonymous, black and white photographs. I enjoy getting to know a person I haven’t met before, through the process of painting them.
By capturing isolated details and people of the past, my work explores the notion that moments are fleeting. Memories and photographs linger, but they are still just a speck in time.
Through the combination of palette knife and brush, and a generous amount of paint, I take much pleasure in surrendering control and allowing the paint to take on a life of it’s own.
I also enjoy the contrast this creates, between the surface of the painting and that of the old photograph.
Clara Adolphs
27 year old Clara Adolphs is an arts graduate from the University of New South Wales and has been a finalist or winner in a total of ten art prizes since 2009. Her paintings, often portraits, are inspired by memories and captured with a thick impasto technique reminiscent of painters such as Lucien Freud or Ben Quilty.
Carla Hananiah, Winner of the Mosman Art Society Viewers Choice Prize
Carla Hananiah, Mercy comes with the morning (detail)
Artist Statement
My work explores ideas around the sublime and the transcendent qualities of beauty. These ideas influence the titles which are inspired by poetry and lyrics. This particular painting is named after a line from a song by Brooke Fraser but it is also a line from a psalm. It is reflective of my emotional response whilst in the land at the time. It was my first trip into the land after a successful solo which has resulted in me working as an artist full-time for the first time after a long time working in run of the mill jobs like hospitality. I felt a new sense of freedom and freshness.-the idea of new mercies seemed to fit this season I was entering.
On receiving the prize
It was a lovely surprise to find out that my painting had won the Mosman Art Society Viewers Choice Prize. I had already felt honored by having my work included in the finalist exhibition and so to find out so many people had responded so positively to my art work was overwhelming. It is what every artist hopes for – that their work will speak to, attract, engage and strike a chord with other’s eyes, minds and souls. Knowing that my work resonates with others has made me feel very happy. As an emerging artist, to be selected as a finalist for such a prestigious art prize is an extremely affirming and exciting experience It was also a pleasure to meet 2011 winner Kerrie Lester on the day the award was announced.
Selected entries
Collecting your works
Collection of non-selected works
- Tuesday 17 & Wednesday 18 July, 10am–6pm
Thursday 19 July, 10am–7pm - Works not collected by 6 August 2012 will be disposed of.
Collection of selected works
- Monday 27, Tuesday 28 & Wednesday 29 August, 10am–5pm
Thursday 30 August, 10am–8pm - Exhibitors must collect their works at their own cost.
- Works not collected by 7 September 2012 will be disposed of.
Collection of works by courier
- Artworks not exhibited must be collected by courier on 19 or 20 July, 10am–5pm
- Exhibited artworks must be collected by courier on 29 or 30 August, 10am–5pm
- Artists must organise the courier and advise Mosman Art Gallery of all details by phoning 02 9978 4178
Public Program
From the blog
Mosman Art Gallery congratulates Mosman Art Prize winner David Fairbairn
MAP winners talk about their winning works
Friends Private Viewing of the Mosman Art Prize
Carla Hananiah wins 2012 Mosman Art Prize Viewers Choice
