Art Almanac congratulates Andrew Tomkins, winner of the 2023 Gallipoli Art Prize, a $20,000 acquisitive prize auspiced by the Gallipoli Memorial Club, with his work Ray’s Room, a poignant work depicting his uncle’s room in his grandparents’ house.
Tomkins on his winning work:
“As a child, Ray’s room was off limits. It was his space. Raymond Tomkins was a participant in the battle of Slaters Knoll, Bougainville, in 1945. He went away a young man but returned a very different person. It was always expected that personnel returning to civilian life from active duty ‘just got on with it’. More often than not, the only support came from each other. Ray did get on with it, leading a productive life and supporting fellow servicemen and their families.
“In recent times, it has been recognised that the treatment of our returned service personnel is a national disgrace. The Royal Commission of 2022 is only the first step in finally providing the support that our veterans justly deserve.”
2023 Gallipoli Art Prize Winner: Andrew Tomkins, Ray’s Room, ink, enamel aerosol, pigment on polyester, 1210 × 1210cm
Tomkins’ unique work is created with a technique he has developed over many years whereby he draws and paints onto a translucent polyester sheet. He then hand cuts around the shapes with a scalpel, and rather than discarding the stencil-like sheet, this forms a layer of the artwork. In Ray’s Room the polyester sheet is mounted approximately 25mm away from the textured backboard, thus creating shadows and what Tomkins describes as an “indescribable volume” to the work.
Judging for this year’s Prize was conducted by Jane Watters, Barry Pearce, Elizabeth Fortescue and John Robertson.
“The concept of negative space is one of the first things art students learn in class,” said Fortescue. “They’re taught what negative space is, and why it matters. To Andrew, negative spaces hold a fascination and even an obsession.”
2023 Gallipoli Art Prize Highly Commended: Richard Crossland, 24 Days, Simpson and his donkey, oil on canvas, 33 × 83cm
The 2023 Gallipoli Art Prize judges highly commended Richard Crossland for his painting 24 Days, Simpson and his donkey depicting Private Simpson who came to fame at Gallipoli for rescuing wounded men with a donkey. Simpson was killed by sniper fire after twenty-four days at Gallipoli.
Crossland said, “I deliberately wanted the painting to be ambiguous. Although Simpson must have been well aware of the danger he faced, I like to think he had the occasional moment to have a quick rest in the sun with his donkey in the days before he died. In most of the photos of Simpson, he had a smile on his face despite the conditions he worked in. The pair epitomised incredible courage, loyalty, and comradeship.”
The Gallipoli Art Prize invites artists to respond openly to the broad themes of loyalty, respect, love of country, courage, comradeship, community, peace and freedom, as expressed in the Gallipoli Memorial Club’s creed: “We believe that within the community there exists an obligation for all to preserve the special qualities of loyalty, respect, love of country, courage and comradeship which were personified by the heroes of the Gallipoli Campaign and bequeathed to all humanity as a foundation for perpetual peace and universal freedom.”
The 2023 Gallipoli Art Prize will be on exhibition at 6–8 Atherden Street, The Rocks, Sydney, from 20 April to 14 May 2023.
