Mid West Art Prize 2015
Open to artists throughout Western Australia working in any medium, the fourth annual Mid-West Art Prize Exhibition opened at the Geraldton Regional Art Gallery on Saturday 28th February 2015.
Exhibition funding from the City of Greater Geraldton and the Art Gallery of WA, along with our other greatly appreciated sponsors will allow the Geraldton Regional Art Gallery to re-launch the Mid West Art prize in 2015 with a total prize pool of $45 000 in non-acquisitive awards.
Our Judges
Ted Snell
Winthrop Professor Ted Snell AM CitWA, Director University of Western Australia Cultural Precinct.
Ted Snell AM, Cit WA was born in 1949, at Geraldton, Western Australia. He is currently Winthrop Professor and Director of the Cultural Precinct at the University of Western Australia. Over the past two decades he has contributed to the national arts agenda through his role as Chair of the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council, Chair of the Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools, Chair of Artbank and Chair of the Asialink Visual Arts Advisory Committee. He has published several books and has curated numerous exhibitions, many of which document the visual culture of Western Australia.
Paola Anselmi
Independent Curator and Arts Writer
Paola is a Perth-based freelance curator, arts writer and public art coordinator. She contributes regularly to Australian arts publications widely on Western Australian artists and contemporary art practice, exhibitions catalogues and artist publications. Paola has held curatorial and research roles at the City of Perth, Art Gallery of WA, Royal Perth Hospital Art Collection, City of Fremantle Art Collection, Centre for Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy and has also undertaken numerous public and private collection development projects.
Allison Archer
Gallery Manager, Turner Galleries, Perth WA.
Allison Archer has worked in the visual arts in Western Australia since the early 1990s. She holds a Masters in Fine Art from the University of Western Australia and is currently the curator and gallery manager of Turner Galleries in Perth. Allison has also been a peer assessor for the Department of Culture and the Arts for the past ten years. She has previously worked with several public collections, including Edith Cowan University, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Royal Perth Hospital, along with working as an Education Officer and Curatorial Research Assistant at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
Our Winners
$20,000 City of Greater Geraldton Overall Award for Excellence
Artist: Paul Kaptein
Artwork: Everything is Nothing
Judges Comments: Technically impressive, the bust of this stoic miner is presented with conceptual rigour as an embodiment of his profession. The open cut mine is excavated from his flesh, which is drilled and marked with the sites where he may have worked. He is a man shaped and constructed from his own labours; his eyes are closed as he contemplates his existence.
$5,000 Minerals & Metals Group Overall Highly Commended Award
Artist: Penny Coss
Artwork: On My Radar
Judges Comments: An ambitious work that succeeded in establishing a dynamic visual presence. The strong colour and controlled use of stained paint generates a powerful image that echoes her concerns for the health of waterways on our planet.
$5,000 Mid West Award
Artist: Karl Monaghan
Artwork: Heads Up
Judges Comments: A sophisticated and technically proficient print. The subtle use of colour and imagery create a delightful interplay of ideas that evoke a film noir scenario played out within an abandoned abattoir.
$5,000 Mid West Highly Commended Award
Artist: Vicki Hardy
Artwork: Consequences
Judges Comments: an intricate chain of interlocking ceramic elements that together form a fragile web or net.
$5,000 Rio Tinto Mid West Aboriginal Award
Artist: Frank Walsh Snr
Artwork: Wandarrie Country Rock Art
Judges Comments: Frank Walsh Snr’s wonderful ‘Wandarrie Country Rock Art’ was the unanimous choice of the judges in this category. His bold and vibrant painting, bursting with energy and painted with vigor and confidence, has all the qualities of a winning work. Although this section was not well subscribed his work is a worthy winner.
$5,000 96.5WAFM Youth Award
Artist: Kieran Ingram
Artwork: The Old Lie
Judges Comments: The very accomplished painting by Kieran Ingram titled ‘The Old Lie’ is not only a brilliant display of painting but the density of the ideas resonate long after contact with the work. In a year when we will see many works on an ANZAC theme this chillingly beautiful painting of a gas mask will remain in the forefront of our minds as a deterrent to war.
$1,500 Ian Blayney MLA Peoples Choice Award
Artist: Joshua Cocking
Artwork: I Believe The Southern Poets Dream Will Not Be Realised
Purchased for the City Collection
Kelly Dawson – ‘Book of Anonymous Memories’
Olga Cironis – ‘Take All That Belongs To You’
Susanna Castleden in collaboration with Bruce Slatter, Bevan Honey & Nicole Slatter – ‘Outcrop‘
Kieran Ingram – ‘The Old Lie’ and ’Drift’
Elisa Markes-Young – ‘The Original Place #13′ and ‘The Original Place – Jarzebina’
Geoff Overheu – ‘Minus/0′
Penny Coss – ‘On My Radar’
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