The winners of the fourth OBJECTive Art Awards, Manukau City Council’s annual nationwide competition for object art, were announced on Friday 15 October at the city’s newest gallery, Mangere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku.
Chris Mules of Auckland received the premier award and a $5,000 cash prize for her work Compound Fracture, made of gold card.
Guest judge Philip Clarke, of Objectspace gallery in Ponsonby, said that the work attracted the judges immediately and continued to impress each time they viewed it. “This is a beautiful, highly resolved and compelling work that provokes for us many ideas about making and value. While appearing to draw on tradition it seems to comment confidently on contemporary production.”
Second prize was awarded to Maraea Timutimu of Tauranga for her perspex and coloured wire pou entitled Te Tika, te Pono me te Aroha. Third prize went to Manurewa’s Renee Bevan and her White Rose composed of silver electroformed urethane, spraypaint, stainless steel wire and silver.
Clarke says that each of the awarded works were fresh, surprising, and at the same time highly resolved.
“All of these prize winners demonstrate an awareness and knowledge of tradition. This quality, to my mind, is often a prerequisite for making work that is fresh and pushes boundaries as the artist or maker needs to know where to push from.”
More than 90 works were entered in this year’s awards with only 45 artists selected for the exhibition. The exhibition of selected works from the OBJECTive Art Awards is open for public viewing until 12 November at Mangere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku. All works in the exhibition are for sale.
Artists whose work was selected for the exhibition:
Elizabeth Alexander, Graham Ambrose, Cristina Beth, Tanya Bogdanova, Stephen Bradbourne, Rudi Buchanan Strewe, Will Clijsen, Rowena Coombes, Barry Down, John Ecuyer, Stefan Gertsmann, Bev Goodwin, Glen Hayward, Fiona Henderson, Stuart Laird, Robyn Lloyd, Antonia Marino, Rory McDougall, Royce McGlashen, Lisa McKendry, Jenny McLeod, Mac Maolin, Jhana Millers, Chris Moore, Toni Mosley, Alexis Neal, Rose Petterson, Edward Prince, Donna Sarten, Sue Scobie, Kate Sellar, Visesio Siasau, Nadine Smith, Mia Straka, Helga Strewe, Serene Tay, Sharon Terrizzi, Debbie Tipuna, Kristin Toller, Jasmine Watson, Melissa Young and Peter Young.