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“All artists have expressed a love and concern for the health of the oceans, under threat from overfishing, warm water temperatures, and polluted agriculture and industrial runoff, but they are not expected to do something for nothing,” Barry Keldoulis said.
“I don’t know how much will be raised, everything helps, and we are grateful for the artists’ support, and their galleries and will be happy with whatever we raise for this urgent cause.”
Anna May Kirk with her glass piece, Whale Fall, highly commended in the Valerie Taylor Art Prize. Credit: Janie Barrett
Under the unique terms of competition, the prize is non-acquisitive, meaning Ross not only collects the $40,000 prize money but her framed edition is selling for $9900, all in the name of conservation.
Anna May Kirk’s glasswork Whale Fall (sold) and Teho Ropeyarn’s Ipi (water, rain) were highly commended.
All 30 works created at the invitation of the award organisers are for sale, with the retail price to be split equally between the artist and the benefiting charity, the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
Taylor says many artworks tell powerful stories of maybe a king, a war, a death, or a shipwreck: “These paintings tell a story of a troubled ocean.”
The public can purchase works by leading artists Janet Laurence ($16,000), Guy Fredericks ($7700) and Caroline Rothwell ($9750), newcomers Jason Phu ($6500) and Dylan Mooney ($1500), and mid-career artists Abdul Abdullah ($32,500) and Angela Tiatia ($27,500).
Curator Coby Edgar, one of three judges (alongside Sydney Opera House chair Lucy Turnbull and Art Gallery of NSW’s Anne Ryan), said Ross had “a way of positioning past dumb decisions that are directly connected to the present circumstances of environmental and social crisis in Australia”.
“It’s clear, it’s using familiar images, but telling the story a bit differently. Hindsight is the sucker punch of this work. It cleverly captures the human behaviours that directly influence all other living things, both then and now.”
Works are available to purchase here until June 11, 2023.
Sydney Morning Herald subscribers can enjoy 2-for-1 tickets* to the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales during June 2023. Click here for more details.