Try Try Again! How do judges decide?

Didn't make it into the Paddington Art Prize. :((

But as these things often happen, I received a newsletter (Blackheath Art Society Aug-Oct 2011) in the mail in which Anthony Bond, Director of Curatorial Services at the Art Gallery of NEw South Wales, was interviewed by Christine Townend regarding his choices in Art Prizes (among other things). He states that for him, "it is important to consider the context". In other words, if judging in an area where the "prevailing themes are landscape or configuration, you need to take that into account (and) encourage the best possible practice in that area, rather than automatically giving the prize to the most adventurous.....What interests me is the degree of honesty and observation that an artist brings to the work."

He later goes on to say that " in every case, I'm looking for an honesty, a directness and keenness of observation. Often the works that seek to be more contemporary end up being over technical or just plain flashy: they simply don't ring true".

Well, I don't consider mine flashy or technical, but then again, Tony Bond wasn't the judge. Perhaps he ought to have been!

Image: Gabrielle Jones, "Tree Movement (Blackheath)" 122 x 122cm Oil on Canvas. Perhaps  should have entered this one?

So...what do you think makes a worthy prize winner? What considerations would you take into account if you were the judge? How do you pick up and go on after "Art  Prize Failure"?

Gab's Open Gallery, Part 5:Meandering Lines

Images: Ildiko Kovacs, "Shine" and "Acacia" both Oil on Board, and "Pink Haze" Oil on card.


I admit I have not always liked Ildiko Kovacs work -it seemed too simple. That was until I actually studied art and realised how difficult "simple" was.

This new show at Martin Browne Fine Art is a glory of colour and intoxicating, meandering line, part design and all painterly. There are layers on layers of paint, not obvious to the casual observer - licks of primary and tertiary colour squeeze from under wads of oil applied, in some instances, by the common tray-attached, wall type roller. This gives these works a fuzzy edged, subtly paint spattered effect, offset beautifully by carefully and lustrously hand- painted strips as, for example, in "Pink Haze".

"Shine", "Acacia" and "Dalaa" had me spending so much time in front of them that I wandered back to my car in a slight daze, quickly jolted back to reality by the parking ticket under the windscreen wipers. I meant to be only 10 minutes, and Potts Point on a Saturday afternoon is impossible to park legally, even if you have a "parking fairy", as I have. So go any time other than Saturday, and reap the benefits.

On till March 28th