Congratulations to Rosemary Lee, winner of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia’s leading prize for drawing, worth $30,000, for her work 24-1, 2024, which observes tonal and compositional profundity in everyday life.
Selected from fifty-six nationwide finalists, Lee’s work will become part of the National Art School’s (NAS) significant collection, built over the past 120 years.
L–R: NAS Director and CEO, Dr Kristen Sharp with artist Rosemary Lee, featuring winning artwork 24–1, 2024, pencil on paper. © the artist. Photograph: Peter Morgan. Courtesy the artist and National Art School Gallery, Sydney
The judging panel – First Nations artist Vernon Ah Kee, Paula Latos-Valier AM, Trustee and Art Director of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, and Dr Yolunda Hickman, Head of Postgraduate Studies, NAS – commented:
“We were most impressed by the level of visual intensity the artist has achieved in this complex work both through its vibrant colour and in the extraordinary detail of the composition. The artwork’s exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill, has produced an image which combines two landscapes, a construction and a demolition site.
“The artwork captures a broader sense of transience, and the omnipresence of construction sites and urban renewal in our cities today. It questions the cultural and historical value of place, through the lens of the artist’s personal connection.
“The materiality and richness of the medium of coloured pencil, rewards viewers who experience this artwork in person. In addition, the use of the grid is a common art historical convention in constructing an image, but here there is a complexity in its use both conceptually and formally as subject, with the grid itself the hero residing at the forefront of the image. This is an artwork for our times.”
Rosemary Lee, 24-1, 2024, pencil on paper. © the artist. Courtesy the artist and Flinders Street Gallery, Sydney
Curated by Lucy Latella, the finalists’ exhibition is on view at NAS Gallery, Sydney, from 11 April to 21 June 2025. Spanning diverse media, from coloured pencil, charcoal, chalk and watercolour to clay, human hair, aluminium, LED, and video, the works consider a range of themes, including domesticity and community, environmental care, and impacts of climate change and colonisation.
Installation view, 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, National Art School Gallery, Sydney, 2025. © the artists. Photograph: Peter Morgan. Courtesy the artists and National Art School, Sydney
Presented in partnership with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, the biennial Dobell Drawing Prize celebrates the enduring importance of drawing in contemporary art practice, with a focus on technique, innovation and expanded approaches. The Prize attracts entries from across Australia, showcasing the diverse ways in which drawing is explored today and how artists are continuing to push the boundaries of the medium.
For more information visit nas.edu.au.
