Reviews on Inside Out Upside Down Gallery Site
St George Art Awards, Hurstville, NSW, Australia 30 October - 16 December 2010
The St George Art Awards is the latest art award supported by Local Government in Sydney. This inaugural 2010 round exposes the work of almost 80 artists out of the 187 entries. The three sections were well supported by artists with a fine selection of quality works being entered.
The selection committee drew in a broad selection of work that range in approach from abstract to naturalist. There is much to be appreciated in the works which as a body leave this years Sulman Prize exhibition looking decidedly impersonal and cold.
Once again I can't agree with the Judges (Philip Sansom, Fu Hong and Chris Casali) selected winner Simon Collins' "Life Adjustment Disorder, Sunny Day" but there is nothing unusual in that, I doubt I've ever agreed with a judging panel. So many works were imaginative, technically challenging and visually engaging, that which one should have won is sure to be a matter of some discussion.
For my part the work by Eve Meagher whilst not technically brilliant is conceptually the best in the show. Tetsuya Mori's Dreaming in Paradise is a very enjoyable work to look at and finely produced. Mitzi Alison Tilley's Moving On is a well conceived and executed work that combines good draughtsmanship with imagination, tonal strength and a sense of feeling.
Fiona White's "In Your Arms" was highly commended as was Nicola Dickson's "Barthelemy Roger" set of two works. Clara Adolphs' "Julia and George 83" is an interesting work that is composed of 20 small panels arranged to give a sense of animation to still images. The other work that I found particularly interesting was Leonora Joanne Brown's "My Jess", paintings of dogs do not generally attract me but this one has a refined compositional setting and treatment that would encourage me to recommend her to anyone wanting a painting of their dog.
My own work was poorly hung without the benefit of lighting, like any artist I found that annoying. Every venue has a spot that is the worst place to have a painting and because of the number of works hung it was necessary to use these spaces in the gallery. Personally I would prefer to be poorly hung than not at all. The nice thing is that the catalogue is produced with good images of each work and the catalogue lasts a lot longer than the exhibition.
The 3D section attracted some delightful work in a variety of materials. Tim Mantzouridis won the section with one of his "Ambiguous Perception" works.
The Youth section attracted some beautiful works with highly accomplished draughtsmanship being a stand out feature of most. "In Trouble" a graphite work won the section while "Sisters" a beautifully coloured composition was highly commended.
I recommend a trip to Hurstville to see this exhibition and see the local art galleries. The staff of the Museum and Gallery did a great job in conducting the process of the Awards and this was particularly mentioned in Philip Sansom's (The Mayor of Hurstville) opening speech. Hopefully we will see the Awards become an annual event.
Just to make sure I make it clear, one of my works is in the exhibition, so I'm not completely unbiased.
author: Neil Miley