News

We are pleased to share that Chris Zanko is a finalist in this year’s Sunshine Coast National Art Prize for his work ‘The Bathroom’.

The national acquisitive Sunshine Coast National Art Prize is a dynamic visual arts award reflecting outstanding contemporary 2D and new media arts practice in Australia. The finalists exhibiton will be exhibited at the Caloundra Regional Gallery from 24 August - 13 October 2024.

‘From the house I grew up in to the share houses and rentals I've lived in since, there has always been a variation of this tile in the bathroom, laundry, or kitchen. In recent years, I've begun to collect different colour variations of it. Sometimes I feel as though I've seen them all, then I incidentally come across a new colour motif. Synonymous with the mid-century red brick and fibro houses in my local area of Wollongong, many of the houses and buildings with these tiles are disappearing. Carving this design into wood is a way of enacting a sense of permanence, as the marks cannot be undone.’

Chris Zanko, 2024

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Image:

‘The Bathroom’ 2023

acrylic on wood relief carving

59 x 54 cm

Congratulations Eliza Gosse whose portrait of Australian designer Emma Mulholland is a finalist in this year's Salon des Refusés. 'Emma and Norby on holiday' is now hanging at S.H. Ervin Gallery until 25 August, 2024.


The Salon des Refusés was initiated by the S.H. Ervin Gallery in 1992 in response to the large number of works entered into the Archibald Prize which were not selected for display in the official exhibition.

Each year the Salon des Refusés panel is invited to go behind the scenes of the judging process for the annual Archibald Prize for portraiture and Wynne Prize for landscape painting and figure sculpture at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, to select an exhibition from the many hundreds of works entered in both prizes but not chosen for the official award exhibition. The Salon des Refusés exhibition has established an excellent reputation that rivals the selections in the ‘official’ exhibition, with works selected for quality, diversity, humour and experimentation, and which examine contemporary art practices, different approaches to portraiture and responses to the landscape.

- S. H Erving Gallery

IMAGE:

Eliza Gosse

'Emma and Norby on holiday' 2024

oil on birch plywood

180 x 115 cm

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Congratulations Vipoo Srivilasa whose work ‘Memory’ (2018) forms part of the Namedropping exhibition at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart. This expansive exhibition presents around 200 artworks and objects, examining the realm of status, influence and the power we place in a name.

‘Memory’ (2018) consists of five porcelain and cobalt pigment figures with gold lustre details, housed in wooden structures. Each figure relates to a childhood sporting memory from the artist and features different sporting equipment or uniforms to reflect this. The porcelain statues are each mounted in uniform L-shaped wooden blocks, inspired by an old trophy from the Australian Sport Museum collection.

On now and current until 21 April 2025.

IMAGE:

‘Memory’ (2018)

porcelain and cobalt pigment figures with gold lustre details

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Exciting news for Christopher Zanko who is a finalists in the 2024 Waverley Art Prize for his work 'Midday brick house'.

The Waverley Art Prize finalist exhibition is on from 6 July - 18 August at the Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Sydney.

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Image:

'Midday brick house' 2023

Flashè on Wood relief carving

122 x 99 cm

Image courtesy Jessica Maurer

Congratulations to Belem Lett who has been chosen as a finalist in the 2024 Waverley Art Prize for his work 'Body Language'. The Waverley Art Prize finalist exhibition is on from 6 July - 18 August at the Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Sydney.

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Image:B

'Body Language', 2024

Oil, clear primer on brushed aluminium composite panel

150 x 122cm

image courtesy Jessica Maurer

Congratulations to Belem Lett for his selection as a 2024 finalist for the The Vincent prize. Belem was selected for his work 'Pollinate' and can be seen at the finalists exhibition which opens this Friday 14 June 6-9pm at Scratch Art Space, Marrickville.

The Vincent Prize was established by art courier service Art Van Go for their customers that missed out on selection for The Archibald, Wynne, Sulman & the Salon des Refuses.

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Image:

Pollinate, 2024

Oil, clear primer on brushed aluminium composite panel

56 x 48 cm

Congratulations Vipoo Srivilasa whose work is featured in the Australian Design Centre On Tour exhibition SIXTY: The Journal of Australian Ceramics 60th Anniversary 1962–2022. Vipoo's 2019 ceramic 'Dvarapala (Ta-waa-ra-baan), Door Guardian Porter' is currently on show at Design Tasmania in Launceston until 21 July 2024.

The exhibition is presented by Australian Design Centre in partnership with The Australian Ceramics Association (TACA) to acknowledge this significant anniversary for the ceramics community in Australia.

"For this show, I created a pair of friendly Dvarapala. They do not only ward off evil spirits but also welcome visitors. Instead of holding a club, they offer flowers and leave to visitors. Both of my Davrapala come with their own “vahana “ or animal- vehicle which they travel on and keep their company. Both animals, cat and dog are the most popular pets in the world. They are not only our great companion but also a guard for our house and a therapy to heal our spirit."

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Image:
VIPOO SRIVILASA
Dvarapala (Ta-waa-ra-baan), Door Guardian Porter series 2019
stoneware, underglaze, gold lustre, acrylic, mixed media

Miranda Skoczek has been a guest on ABC Radio National, delving into the new direction of her current exhibition at Post Space in Exeter, England. In a vibrant conversation with Kimberly Price, Miranda explains the deeply personal body of work, and her distinctive abstract painting.

LISTEN HERE

IMAGE:

Miranda Skoczek with her exhibition 'Red Ribbons', Post Space, Exeter, courtesy the artist

We are thrilled to announce that Sally M Nangala Mulda has been selected as a finalist in the Sir John Sulman Prize with her work 'Amoonguna long time ago'.

We stay at Amoonguna long time ago. We went on the train to Maryvale.

Sally M Nangala Mulda, 2024

Sally M Nangala Mulda’s work is a form of documentary storytelling. In this painting, she references a time in the 1960s when her family moved to Amoonguna Aboriginal Reserve about 15 kilometres east-south-east of Mparntwe/Alice Springs, so the children could attend school. Sally was born in the camp of Aboriginal stock and station homestead workers on Maryvale cattle station. That camp was recognised as Aboriginal Land in 1978, and the residents have transformed it into the idyllic Titjikala community within easy walking distance of the old homestead.

Tangentyere Artists, 2024

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Artwork:

'Amoonguna long time ago' 2024

acrylic on linen

51 x 122 cm

Thrilled to share the news that Chris Zanko is a finalist in the 2024 Wynne Prize with his work ‘Personal plethoras’.

Growing up, Christopher Zanko formed impressions of local architecture that helped him build a ‘cognitive map’. Particular houses and streets in the Wollongong suburbs of his childhood, on Dharawal land, became markers for him in a place now undergoing development and gentrification.

Zanko, a two-time Wynne finalist, noticed this house while walking to his daughter’s preschool in 2023. ‘The arrangement of shadows cast by the eaves and the glimpse into the backyard gave a sense of familiarity,’ he says. Rendered large, with confident lines, the house’s textures of red brick, speckled concrete, pruned bushes and drawn blinds have been lovingly depicted. Zanko carves into the wooden surface with small hand chisels before adding colour, then accentuates the work’s graphic details and deep shadows by applying black paint with a roller.

While the changing nature of our environment can be challenging, Zanko notes, it ‘is arguably necessary, especially considering Australia’s current housing crisis’. ‘Through my process I seek to give a sense of permanency to the narratives and experiences of suburban Australia.’

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Artwork:

‘Personal plethoras’ 2024

synthetic polymer paint on hand-carved wood

180.1 x 150 cm