The Walter's Prize is a biennial award for New Zealand artists who have contributed to visual arts in the previous two years. Named in honour of artist Gordon Walters, it was established by founding benefactors and principal donors Erika and Robin Congreve and Dame Jenny Gibbs to make contemporary art a more widely recognised and debated and prominent feature of New Zealand cultural life. The prize itself was established in 2002 and it is New Zealand's most prestigious contemporary art prize.
The 2010 finalists are -
Saskia Leek - Yellow is the Putty of the World shown at Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland (25 November - 23 December 2009). Leek uses pastels which insist of whitish blues and whitish yellows. These colours set the mood of sun-faded prints and 'Yellow is the Putty of the World' clearly shows this.
Fiona Connor - Something Transparent (please go round the back) shown at Michael Lett, Auckland (15 April - 16 May 2009). Connor's sterile white structure were made out of wood and bolts and she positioned multiple reproductions of the glass facade. Connor's main focus was all about how spaces operate within specific communities.
Dan Arps - Explaining Things shown at Gambia Castle, Auckland (7-24 December 2008). Arps work is very unique which is shown through the different non-everyday materials he uses.
Alex Monteith - Passing Manoeuvre with Two Motorcycles and 584 Vehicles for Two-Channel Video shown at ST PAUL St, Auckland (19 June - 7 July 2008). Monteith's work is a Two-channel video installation with stereo sound, 18min looping cycle, 8 meters x 3 meters.
The jury members for 2010 are -
Jon Bywater - Programme Leader, Critical Studies at Elam School of Fine Art, The University of Auckland.
Rhana Devenport - Director, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New PlymouthLeonhard Emmerling - Visual Arts Adviser, Goethe Institute, Munich, Germany, former Director, ST PAUL St, AUT University
Kate Montgomery - Director, Physics Room, Christchurch.
The Judge for 2010 is Vicente Todoli, former-director of London's Tate Modern. Vicente was director of London's Tate Modern from 2003-2010. He was a prime mover in the Tate's global success - now the most visited modern art museum in the world. From 1989-96 Todolí was artistic director for The Valencia Institute for Modern Art (IVAM), Spain, and before it opened he was their Chief curator. Throughout his distinguished career he organised and curated internationally renowned exhibitions of work by contemporary artists, making him the perfect choice to be this years judge.
I would nominate Alex Monteith for this years Walters Prize because I personally think his work is something I have never seen before and is a very interesting installation. It was the most appealing to me. I really liked how the installation included stereo sound and the 18min looping cycle really amazes me. The video shows just how steep the sloping horizon lines are.
Reference:
www.google.com/images
http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/events/2010/october/walters-prize-2010-jury-tour
http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/events/2010/july/the-walters-prize-2010
http://www.gambiacastle.net/explainingthings/explaining1.html
http://alexmonteith.com/work_detail.php?id=51#
i really like Monteiths work as well but i prefer Connor's work and would choose hers for the Walter's prize. I think that both of these artists work is a lot more successful than the other 2 artists, Arps and Leek. I think i like Conner's work more because it appeals to me because of my interests towards the art industry. I like how clean and simple Conner's work is and the use of repetition makes the work very effective. I like how she has used a space and constructed something rather than displaying it on a wall. You are able to experience the work a lot better and a largeness of the work gives it more of a WOW factor. I also looked at some of Conner's other work and found that also very interesting. i like how simple but effective her works are.
ReplyDeleteI would also vote for Monteith as I think she has done a good job of making something illegal seem so normal to us. The work is supposed to be about the illegal lane changes that motorcyclist make when they try to dodge traffic. The video reminded me of that driving cellphone ad that has two faces saying different sentences including 'its hard to concentrate on two things at a time' - i feel like this could have been part of the influence as it is quite similar in the way to get the point across. I like how Monteith has made it a large projector screen fro front and back. It is had to focus on just one thing so it gets your eyes switching from side to side. I think this relates to the danger of motorcyclists switching lanes all the time, as that is also not only a distraction but also very dangerous to other people on the road.
ReplyDeleteMonteith's work is indeed very interesting, I really like the way she uses the medium to express creativity. The use of video technology contributes to getting the message across to the audience effectively as it provides both sound and visuals. It stands out from the ordinary art works as this uses the media to get her message across.
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