From the Director - September 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thank you to those who joined us in launching this year's Sunshine Coast National Art Prize! It was a fantastic night celebrating the forty finalists. The artists were able to meet and mingle with each other. Guest judge Julie Ewington was in attendance. Everyone enjoyed the live music by FJ Skillz. And the event also provided an opportunity to thank the sponsors and supporters, without whose generosity the prize would not be possible.

The Sunshine Coast National Art Prize is always a team favourite and this year's exhibition is truly extraordinary. You get to see artists from all over the country, which is valuable both for the community as well as for the artists. This year we had over 450 entries, including entries from every state and territory in Australia. This national reach has been remarkable and we're really excited by that.

There is no theme to the prize, so artists can address any medium, style or concept within two-dimensional and new media art. That's the exciting part about an exhibition of this kind. There are so many things happening on the floor, with many beautiful examples of skill. We have an amazing lino print by Amanda Western, which is over a metre high. It is beautifully done, you feel like you could almost walk into the glade that she's created with shadows and negative space.

There are abstract works, showing the balance of colour and shape. It's really hard to work in the abstract, to create a holistic artwork from abstract elements. We have textile pieces, which are really lovely. We have more new media works this year, and each one is using the medium in a different way. Todd Fuller's piece is an animation of his sketches that tells a story. It's like a really fast short film, which is not only beautiful but so very topical now.

Todd Fuller | No use crying over ripped lace | Photo by Patrick Want

We have another new media artwork by Kathy Mackey, where the artist builds up elements of colour, almost like a colour tone painting, by layering material in water. The water refracts and changes the colours. It's mesmerising to watch how the paper floats and changes shape as it's placed in the water.

Then we have another artist, David Creed, who is looking with tongue in cheek at the whole idea of fashion. He takes a humorous look at fast fashion and how fashion in our world is so commodified and causes unbelievable impact to our environment. And Kellie O'Dempsey has created an assembly with moving image as an element of the work. It's quite rare to see that sort of mix.

I've known this year's judge, Julie Ewington, for a really long time. She's unbelievably well respected in the cultural world. She's a writer and curator, currently based in Sydney but working across the country. I knew her from when she was the head of Australian Art at QAGOMA. She has a broad understanding of what's being talked about now and how people make. She will bring a very knowledgeable background to the judging, we're so lucky to have her.

The winners will be announced on 3 October, at 6pm. There are still places available if you'd like to attend, so please book your tickets before they sell out. Hopefully everybody will come in to see the show. We usually get a large amount of people through the door, so we're looking forward to that. The exhibition continues until 13 October.

Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery…

Jo Duke
Director

Jo Duke | Photo by ben vos productions