“The Mosman Art Prize is a barometer of contemporary painting which showcases some of Australia’s best artists,” says this year’s judge, Kon Gouriotis of the Australia Council for the Arts.
“When people see this show they will see a diversity of practice and the potential of painting as a contemporary medium and how immediate painting is to ideas.”
Artist Craig Waddell – who received the Commendation Prize from eminent Australian artist Margaret Olley AC in 2009 – has won the major Mosman Council Art Prize of $20,000 with his painting I remember you as you were my beauty. The title, taken from a poem by Pablo Neruda, reflects the sensuous nature of the artist’s painterly treatment of form of a single Protea.
In addition to the major prize of $20,000, 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’.
View the Judge’s Report
Entries for the Mosman Art Prize must be received on Monday 19 July 2010 at the Mosman Art Gallery between 8.00am & 7.00pm. Entries must be accompanied by a completed form.
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Selected entries will be listed on this website from 23 July.
The 2010 winning artists
Craig Waddell, I remember you, as you were my beauty – Winner of the Mosman Art Prize
Craig Waddell graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art from the National Art School in 1999 and a MFA (Printmaking) at the Chiang Mai University, Thailand 2004. He was a finalist in the Wynne Prize in 2005, the Archibald in 2006 and the Dobell Drawing Prize in 2007. In 2009 he won the Commendation Prize for the Mosman Art Prize and the Viewers Choice Award.
Artist Statement
I remember you, as you were my beauty is part of an ongoing body of work for an upcoming exhibition to be held at Gallery 9, Sydney. For the past 18 months my studio has been located on a rose farm at Glenorie, Sydney. I also work part time at the Sydney Flower Markets. This part time work and my studio location are a source of constant inspiration – they are the feeding ground for new ideas and a place for me to find subject matter. Within my work I like to explore a wide range of inspiration to stimulate the creative process. My recent body of work has been heavily influenced by memory, emotion, the beautiful and sometimes strange organic forms found in nature and the erotically charged love poems written by the great Chilean writer Pablo Neruda.
With a passion for paint texure and a highly charged response to my subject, I gesturally apply paint in the frenzied search to find truth and meaning within my subject.
Therese Darmody, Ripple – Winner of the Commendation Prize
Therese Darmody graduated with a Master of Art from COFA (College of Fine Art, UNSW) in 2009 and is now undertaking a studio-based research degree for a Master of Fine Arts at COFA. As part of this degree Darmody states that she is ‘looking at the parallels between knitting and painting where she examines the compelling materiality of both practices which has led to their constant renewal despite the technological advances which could have seen their demise.’
Therese Darmody has exhibited at Verge Gallery at the University of Sydney, Kudos, Beowulf and COFA Space Galleries.
Artist Statement
This painting takes its name from the knitted stitch it depicts, ie ripple stitch. It is part of an ongoing series of paintings and works on paper using knitted stitch patterns. The series arose out of my fascination with and love of pattern. Pattern is everywhere and though it’s often seen as purely decorative it is the ability of patterns to communicate on a non-verbal level that interests me.
With this piece I wanted to communicate a sense of calmness, of slowing down, to create a work that would allow or assist someone viewing it to enter into a calm or meditative state. The challenge is finding the balance (as in life) between being calm and feeling enlivened. To create visual interest, each stitch is slightly different from all the others, each row or horizontal line not quite parallel with its neighbour.
Ben Smith, He is of Uneven temperament – Amanda Phillips Young Emerging Artist’s Award
In 2001 Ben Smith received a Brett Whitely Scholarship to study at the Julian Ashton Art School where he received a Diploma of Fine Art. Since this time he has been a finalist in various established art prizes. In 2009 and 2010 he was selected for exhibition in the Doug Moran Portrait prize, and was a finalist in the Sulman prize. He was a winner of the Waverley Art Prize in 2010 and has exhibited as part of the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Award and at Dickerson Gallery in Melbourne and Sydney.
Artist Statement
This painting was inspired by the sculpted mythological creatures I saw during my 2009 trip through Europe. Very occasionally I came across a creature that seemed different to the others. Its pieces didn’t quite fit together; it certainly was not classical and often appeared a little clumsy. I felt a greater affinity with these creatures as they seemed more like metaphors for real people rather than symbols of divinity or state power. This painting is one of a series based on people that I know. It is an attempt to depict their aspirations and personal conflicts.
Tom Carment, Container Wharf, Port Botany – Winner of the Allan Gamble Memorial Art Prize (for paintings of ‘the built environment’)
Tom Carment is a painter of portraits and landscapes and a writer. His pictures have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions since the 70’s and his stories and essays have been published nationally. Tom was the winner of the 2008 Gallipoli Art Prize and a co-winner of the 2005 Mosman Art Prize. He has been a finalist in the Archibald Prize eight times, the Wynne Prize five times and the Sulman Prize and Dobell Drawing Prize twice. He is a three times winner of the Waverley Art Prize. Since 1992 Tom has had 26 works hung in the Salon des Refuses, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney. In 2008 the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery at Windsor exhibited a survey of Tom’s landscapes and portraits from the past thirty years, entitled ‘People, Paddocks, Coastlines’. Tom’s works are held by the Art Gallery of NSW, State Library of NSW, National Gallery of Australia, City of Melbourne Art & Heritage Collection, Kedumba Drawing Collection, Macquarie Group Collection and many others. He is represented by Damien Minton Gallery.
Artist Statement
The container terminal at Botany Bay feels like the busiest place in Sydney, the working heart of the city and I have been painting there since late last year.
Being a plein air painter I look for the best places to sit and paint which aren’t in anyone’s way. I began working from the edges of the Eastern Suburbs Cemetery from where I could see all the cranes against the light. Then, after scouting out possible sites on my bicycle (I cycle to Botany Bay every Saturday morning), I started painting the wharf from the north, sitting in the bushes at the edge of busy Foreshore Drive. From here I could see the brightly coloured structures in full light, almost like science-fiction fighting machines, striding the bay. I worked on horizontal panels, about thirty of which I’d cut and primed from old timber collected at the Bower in Marrickville. In the studio I arranged them into groups that sat well together.The Port is a ‘still life’ in flux, the elements remain the same but move about; not only do the skies and tides change, but also the giant red and yellow cranes, which shunt up and down their tracks into different positions each day and rearrange the stacked walls of containers.
Leyla Spencer, Red Roof Station – Viewers’ Choice
The Viewers’ Choice Prize of $1,000 sponsored by Mosman Toyota was won by Leyla Spencer for her painting Red Roof Station.
Mayor Councillor Anne Connon made the announcement and presented the artist with her cheque at the opening of the Australian Accent exhibition.
All works
2010 Mosman Art Prize winners talk about their paintings and artistic practice
About the Mosman Art Prize
The Mosman Art Prize is an annual, acquisitive award for painting sponsored by Mosman Municipal Council. Established in 1947, the Prize is one of the oldest and most prestigious, local government art awards in Australia. The winning works form a splendid collection of modern and contemporary art, reflecting developments in Australian art practice over the last half a century.
The primary purpose of the Mosman Art Prize is “to build a municipal art collection and to encourage an interest in the arts in the local community”. 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 2009 Mosman Art Prize was won by Alexander Lavroff. Past adjudicators of the Prize have also included prominent figures in the Australian art world such as Margaret Preston, John Olsen, Tim Storrier and Edmund Capon.
Saturday 31 July - Sunday 29 August
