Sydney artist Andrew Tomkins has won the 2025 Gallipoli Art Prize, a $20,000 acquisitive prize sponsored by the Gallipoli Memorial Club in Sydney, with his work HMAS KARANGI, a potent symbol for peace in our present turbulent times.
The 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.”
Gallipoli Art Prize 2025 Winner: Andrew Tomkins, HMAS Karangi, ink, wax crayon and aerosol on polyester, 121 x 231cm
Launched in 1941 at Cockatoo Island, the HMAS Karangi, a Kangaroo Class boom defence vessel, was decommissioned in 1964, and sold for scrap in 1966. HMAS Karangi now lies in the waters of Homebush Bay. With passing of the years, it has been “rebirthed” as a haven for endangered mangroves, wetlands and wildlife thriving within and around its sunken hull. This vessel worked the anti-submarine boom gates to Darwin Harbour during WWII, helping to defend Darwin during the Japanese bombing of 1942 and was awarded battle honours for engaging Japanese aircraft during this period. Post war the ship supported nuclear testing in the Montebello Islands off the West Australian coast.
“. . . HMAS Karangi is a memorial to the personnel who sailed her. I have utilised her reality to create a graphic picture of a more peaceful world . . .” – Andrew Tomkins
Tomkins’ unique work is created with a technique he has developed over many years whereby he draws and then paints on to 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. His methodology, or visual language, has evolved not only from the European and Chinese socialist woodcuts movement but also modern day street art specifically stencil art.
Highly Commended: Wayne Davis, Lighthorse Section, oil on board, 17 × 140cm
The 2025 Gallipoli Art Prize judges highly commended Wayne Davis for his vigorous work Lighthorse Section. The painting shows the energy, trust and interdependence between the horses and riders of the Australian Light Horse Regiment in the Middle East during the First World War.
This year’s judges were Jane Watters, Barry Pearce, Elizabeth Fortescue, and John Robertson. The 2025 Gallipoli Art Prize will be on exhibition at 6–8 Atherden Street, The Rocks, Sydney, from 17 April to 11 May 2025.
View all 2025 Gallipoli Art Prize finalist works at www.gallipoliartprize.org.au.
