The winner for the 2012 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize has been announced. The $10,000 acquisitive award has been presented to Thor Beowulf for The Carbon Credit Machine. According to the artist’s statement Beowulf said, “With growing concerns about environmental despoliation, climate change and the fragile interdependence between humans with their natural environment, this living bonsai sculpture reveals the absurd hubris of human science and technology in their belief they can replicate or improve upon nature’s own perfectly functioning carbon storage and conversion machine, a tree.”
Judges of the prize this year are arts patron Guido Belgiorno-Nettis AM, Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW and Director of the Transfield Foundation, Natalie Wilson, Assistant Curator, Australian Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Professor Janice Reid AM FASSA, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney and Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW.
According to Guido Belgiourno-Nettis, “Unanimously chosen by the judges, this intriguing work is both current in concept and exquisite in its realisation. The viewer is led on a circuitous journey through the labyrinthine apparatus, only to realise they end up where they began. Nature is the only thing that remains. The process is entirely redundant”.
The winner of the Special Commendation, a $2,000 non-acquisitive award has also been announced. The judges selected Time, Rhyme, Mime by Kendal Murray, commenting that it was beautifully constructed, whimsical and a delight which draws you into a miniature world.
Also highly commend by the judges was Sherrie Knipe for After the Deluge, which the artist says was inspired by images of the clean up after the Queensland floods, symbolising attachment, loss and finally a time to move on.
The winners were chosen from the 42 local and international finalists that make up the exhibition, which is to be held at the Woollahra Council Chambers. The free public exhibition showcasing the finalists runs until Sunday November 11.
The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize totals $13,000 across 3 categories:
· The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize: an acquisitive award of $10,000
· The Special Commendation: a non-acquisitive award of $2,000
· The Viewers’ Choice: a non-acquisitive award of $1,000
The Viewers’ Choice will be announced at the conclusion of the exhibition.
Exhibition of Finalists:
Until November 11.
Woollahra Council, 536 New South Head Road, Double Bay. 9am-5pm weekdays and 10am-4pm weekends. Free Entry.
Sculpture Tea Topic:
Friday November 9.
A guided tour of the Prize with a special guest presenter. 10am, includes high tea. Free Entry.
Guided Group Tours:
Until Friday November 9.
By appointment only on 9391 7135.
The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize is held in conjunction with the Environmental Schools Sculpture Prize which is open to all schools in the Woollahra Municipality.
For more information please visit: http://sculptureprize.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/
Thor Beowulf, The Carbon Central Machine, 2012, bonsai, gauges, metal tubing, other instruments, 67 x 46 x 52cm
Kendal Murray, Time, Rhyme, Mime, 2012, mixed-media assemblage, 8.5 x8 x 9cm
