City of Hobart Art Prize [winners]

Friday night was the opening and announcement of awards for the 2011 City of Hobart Art Prize at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. On arrival at the event we [my wife Joanna was by my side as always] were a little put back by the number of people in attendance [notable mention: Violent Femmes Brian Ritchie]. The night kicked off with a speech from Dr Peter Sexton, who was quick to give everyone in attendance a brief overview outlining the magnitude of the event [some 400 entries, reduced down to no set number, but 39 was the final number of pieces on display]. A quick number check revealed the vast cross section of entries ranging from all over Australia.

ACT        3 [paper]

QLD        1 [paper] 1 [wood]

NSW        6 [paper] 1 [wood]

VIC         8 [paper] 3 [wood]

TAS         8 [paper] 5 [wood]

SA                           1 [wood]

WA          1 [paper] 1 [wood]

When the announcements came around it was Dr Megan Keating [paper], Dr Colin Langridge [wood] and Joel Rosswell [MONA prize] taking the honors. All three of them internationally recognized artists in their own right. So with the deed done it was time to filter through into the gallery and check out all the award winners and exhibition pieces on display.  

As we went through the doors it wasn’t until we saw the works on offer that it started to sink in just how honored we were to have been selected for this event [I do remind everyone that Jo is the other half of the design team even though she is studying to be an Accountant]. Conversations started to circulate regarding notable people who didn’t make it through the selection process. Again this only made me more nervous about being there. A quick conversation with some mainland based artists had their jaws dropping when I let slip that I was a second year furniture design student at UTAS. That aside, having one of our furniture pieces in the state museum and art gallery set among such established artist will forever be a highlight. I’ll be posting more about the artist’s and designs on display this week so stay tuned.

[left] shortdivision on display with Paul Whites, heading east convoy (right) and Locust Jones, fat sag age (left) doing the back ground honors. Sorry but taking photos was not allowed and I had to seek permission from the gallery just to get these images...welcome to the world of art and design kiddies!