SCAP winner Miles Hall with Caloundra Regional Gallery Director, John Waldron following the announcement of the $15,000 prize for Pine Lime (Splice).
BRISBANE-BASED artist, Miles Hall is the winner of the fifth annual Sunshine Coast Art Prize. Miles is the son of Maleny residents Les and Rae Hall. Miles has won a $15,000 cash prize and four weeks workshop residency at Arley Farm in Maleny. The winning painting is an abstract called Splice (Pine Lime).
This year’s judge, well-known art critic and weekly columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, John McDonald commented on the distinguished contribution SCAP was making to the national art calendar.
Highly Commended was Catherine O’Donnell’s Civic Centre. Catherine is from Sydney.
“Australia has a fatal attraction to art prizes, from the Archibald to the local fete”, said John at the Caloundra Regional Gallery. “By avoiding an obvious theme such as portraiture or still life, the prize leaves the door open to many different styles and genres in a range of media.”
While announcing the winner at the Caloundra Regional Gallery on August 26, John said, “Splice (Pine Lime), is essentially an abstract picture that generates a range of pictorial tensions. We see the work at first as a kind of landscape, depicting tangled undergrowth or a reflection in water. The severe green line across the bottom of the work creates a jarring contrast, bringing us back to the formal issues of line versus plane, depth as opposed to flatness. It’s an edgy, speculative affair that never aspires to perfection, but that’s part of the appeal.”
Commended was Vicki Hersi’s abstract painting, Still Life Objects.
Catherine O’Donnell’s Civic Centre was given the highly commended award.
John McDonald commented that, “Few will fail to be impressed by the artist’s painstaking mastery of charcoal, and her careful delineation of a piece of urban geometry that would make even Jeffrey Smart think twice,” said Mr McDonald.
The 2010 SCAP exhibition at the Caloundra Regional Gallery showcases the work of all 40 finalists. It is open until 3 October.
All works are for sale and entry to the gallery is free. If you would like to place your vote for the People’s Choice award you can do so either online at www.scap.org.au or at the gallery.
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