Now in its 16th year, the ANL Maritime Art Awards Exhibition recognises excellence in maritime and seafaring subjects in art. This year’s theme – ‘the Relationship of Humanity and the Sea’ – attracted a diverse response of work ranging from traditional to contemporary mixed media. The winning works resonate with an outstanding level of creativity in response, either thematically or literally, to the brief. They are evocative and show a great deal of ideation and originality.
Joni Dennis, Aye Aye Captain, mixed media 85 x 118 x 2cm
With a prize pool of over $25,000, the 2018 Maritime Art Awards winners (with judges comments):
Joni Dennis, Aye Aye Captain – $15,000 ANL ‘Maritime Art Award’ (Acquisitive)
‘This work celebrates female sea captains of container ships who travel the world. It is a multi-faceted portrayal of these ambitious women.’
Robert J Williams, Rust in Peace – $2,000 Nevile & Co ‘Runners up Award’
The fresh take on this portrayal of the iconic HMAS Cerberus wreck impressed the judges; ‘A softly nuanced, big impact painting with a restrained colour palette.’
Robert J Williams, Rust in Peace
David Rowe, The Naval Mechanic
David Rowe, The Naval Mechanic – $5,000 ASP ‘Best in Traditional Maritime Art Award’ (Acquisitive)
‘A highly skilled and executed environmental portraiture of a Naval mechanic in the belly of a ship, rich in its tonality and depth.’
Ben Tankard, Unpopular Penguin 286 – $2,000 DP World ‘Emerging Artist Award’
‘This work embodies a layered narrative, with intriguing references to man’s relationship to the sea. We felt it was a highly innovative response to the brief.’
Ben Tankard, Unpopular Penguin 286
Highly Commended – Traditional:
Ted Dansey, Unloaded
Betina Fauval-Ogden, Dangerous Cargo
Raymond Hewitt, Oil Terminal
Ben Winspear, Supply & Demand
Maxwell Wilks, Unloading Coal
Highly Commended:
Jenny Laidlaw, The Breaker at the Stern
Julian Twigg, A View from West St Kilda II, 2016
Tetyana Khytko, Evening in Seward, Alaska
Karen Coul, Jumping Ship
The VIVA Energy ‘People’s Choice Award’ ($2,000) will be announced on the evening of 25 October after all votes (registered in person at the exhibition) are tallied.
The exhibition runs from 5 to 26 October 2018 at the Heritage building complex of the Mission to Seafarers Victoria at 17 Flinders Street, Docklands; and digitally through the bluethumb Australia’s online gallery www.bluethumb.com.au/prize
