Prizes awarded for NZPPA 2014
    Mike Mather The Waikato Times 04 March 2014
    The Waikato Society of Arts is delighted to announce Auckland artist Stephen Ellis has won the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award 2014 sponsored by The Philip Vela Family Trust.
    The New Zealand Painting & Printmaking Award is our country’s most valuable acquisitive cash award for New Zealand artists in the fields of painting and printmaking. The $20,000 prize very generously sponsored by The Philip Vela Family Trust was presented at a special gala opening on Friday, 14th February. The winning artwork is purchased each year by The Philip Vela Family Trust for their collection. Success in this competition has been a springboard for many of the winning artists who have moved on to significant careers in the contemporary art field.
     
    This year’s call for entries attracted more than 250 entries from a diverse array of our country’s contemporary artists. The 46 finalists’ works were selected by this year’s Judge Courtney Johnston, Director of The Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt. Waikato Society of Arts are very pleased to be working with Johnston on this award.

    Johnston said she was impressed by the calibre and range of entries and honing them down to the selection that forms the current exhibition was a difficult task:

    “I tried in my selection to choose not only the entries that I considered to be outstanding, but works that illustrate the diverse styles and media I saw. As a result, the 2014 NZPPA exhibition is made up of everything from digital collage to oil paint, pinhole photography to ballpoint pen.

    “I am also intrigued by the theme of digital technologies and digitally-led lives that is reflected across these works, from a digital collage that calls to mind 19th century scientific engravings to an abstract painting inspired by social media interactions.

    Of the winning work, Stephen Ellis’s ‘We asked for signs’, a large drawing of an imagined landscape that points to the possible futility of our actions in the face of massive environmental change,  Johnston said:

    “It’s impossible not to get lost in ‘We asked for signs’. From the distance you are drawn in by the bright white light glowing on a tumbled blue background. From a little closer you are struck by the masterful and obsessive detail, rendered in millions of strokes of ballpoint pen. Once inside the work, Ellis’s message becomes clear and we are forced to face up to our own actions or inaction.”

    Johnston also selected Hannah Depree’s ‘Boys Club’ and Jessica Pearless’s ‘After Kauri’ for special mention as the Merit Award winners.
    “Hannah Depree uses watercolour to capture scenes from paused television programmes. I’m intrigued by the use of a very traditional medium to render moments from a very modern phenomena: our on-demand approach to imagery and information in the world today.

    “Jessica Pearless’s squares of rich colour float over a calm background. A restrained but rich work, ‘After Kauri’ calls back to Colin McCahon’s well-known Cubist-influenced works of the 1950s, but also shows Pearless’s thoughtful approach to the possibility of self-expression through abstract painting.”

    The public have the opportunity to vote for the Peoples’ Choice award during the exhibition and the popular favourite wins a prize of art materials donated by Gordon Harris. The New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award is the major visual arts event as part of the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival and is FREE to the public.

    The exhibition is open daily during the Hamilton Gardens Summer Festival from 15th February until Thursday 27th February from 10 to 6 on weekends and from noon to 6 on weekdays.
    See the winners and other finalists for the 2014 NZPPA.
     
    Finalists Selected!!  
    Finalists announced for New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award 2014 This year’s call for entries attracted more than 250 entries from a diverse array of our country’s contemporary artists. Judge Courtney Johnston has had the difficult task of selecting finalists for the 2014 New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award and has settled on 46 well-deserving artworks. The New Zealand Painting & Printmaking Award is our country’s most valuable, acquisitive cash award for New Zealand artists in the fields of painting and printmaking.

    The $20,000 prize is very generously sponsored by the Philip Vela Family Trust and they also purchase the winning artwork for their collection. Success in this competition has been a springboard for many of the winning artists who have moved on to significant careers in the contemporary art field.

    The judge for 2014 is Courtney Johnston, Director of The Dowse Art Museum and Petone Settlers Museum, and is a well-known arts writer and commentator.

    The 46 finalists’ works will make up the award exhibition and the winner will be announced on 14th February 2014 at the awards ceremony. There will also be two merit awards presented. The public have the opportunity to vote for the Peoples’ Choice award during the exhibition and the popular favourite wins a prize of art materials donated by Gordon Harris.
    The New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award is the major visual arts event as part of the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival and is FREE to the public. The exhibition will run midday to 6pm daily from 15th February until Thursday, 27th February, 2014.