The winners of the 2014 Calleen Art Award and Central West Regional Art Award were announced by the Awards Judge Michael Rolfe CEO Museums and Galleries of NSW at a gala opening event on Saturday, 3 May 2014.
The opening night commenced in Cowra Civic Centre with the announcement of the winners followed by preview of the exhibition at the Cowra Regional Art Gallery (located across from the Centre). The finalist’s exhibition is comprised of 58 artworks selected from 299 entries received from across Australia.
The winner of the 2014 Calleen Art Award was Naomi White from Bardon, a suburb of Brisbane for her work End of Day (2014).
Highly Commended Awards (Calleen Art Award) went to Alison Chiam from Vincenna NSW for her work Snowy Plains, Monaro NSW (2014) oil on canvas 72 X120cm; Stephen Pleban from Ballart Victoria for his work Intertwine 2 (2014); Georgina Pollard from Kandos NSW for her work mis-tint II (2014); and Matthew Quick from Collingwood Victoria for his work Coronation (2014).
The winner of the 2014 Central West Regional Art Award was Genevieve Carroll from Hill End NSW for her work Over the Table Blue Dandelions (2014).
Judge Michael Rolfe explains:
“In her work End of Day Naomi White uses sharp and intuitive brush strokes and discreet tonal gestures, abstracted in parts, to achieve a sharp and focused work. It’s not landscape from around here (Cowra), but it is an appropriate work for a collection that aspires to represent in some sense the vistas only artists see and to bring them before our eyes.”
“I gave the Central West Regional Art Award to a work that displays for me a real enthusiasm for painting. With a practice described as a circumnavigation of her life, Genevieve Carroll has produced a lively work – Over the Table Blue Dandelions – energetically transcribed and mediated through the experience of all things important to her. For me it wasn’t circumnavigating anything. Rather the artist appears to jump right in – It is a well constructed narrative and an artwork not bogged in paint but rather imbued with light and life.”
Cowra Regional Art Gallery
Until 15 June, 2014
New South Wales
Naomi White, End of Day, 2014, oil on canvas 112 x 183cm
Courtesy the artist