Sydney artist Remy Faint has taken the major award in this year’s Gosford Art Prize with his work, Egress.
Central Coast Council announced the winners last week, with a $28,000 prize pool awarded to artists from across the Central Coast and beyond.
This year 948 entries were received from across Australia, with 146 selected as finalists – 40 per cent of them from the Central Coast.
Along with the prestigious title, Faint also won $15,000.
Council’s Director Community and Recreation Melanie Smith said the Gosford Art Prize was known for making a real difference to an artist’s career.
“The competition offers an exciting range of opportunities for visual artists working in any art form to showcase their work to a large audience and potentially become an acquisition of the Central Coast’s art collection,” she said.
“Once again the calibre of artists from around the country was extremely high – however it was fantastic to see 40 per cent of the finalists come from the Central Coast, showing the strength of the art scene on the Coast.”
Gosford Regional Gallery Director Tim Braham said the selection panel aimed to include a variety of styles, content and techniques with fierce competition amongst a range of artwork.
He said events such as an annual art prize provided opportunities for both local and national artists to bring quality contemporary art to the Central Coast.
Other category winners are: Second Prize $5,000 – Sophie Lampert with artwork Listen, the Trees are Whispering; Aboriginal Artist Prize $2,500 – Ethan-James Kotiau – Nagaya Marda; and Gosford Ceramics Prize $2,500 – Juz Kitson with artwork Alteration of incoming sensoria.
Three Highly Commended prizes of $1,000 each were awarded to: Craig Handley – the show off 2; Tia Madden – Adversaria; and Mel Jhey – Thinking About My Ancestors.
The winner of the Viewer’s Choice Award of $500 will be announced at the conclusion of the exhibition at Gosford Regional Gallery.
Council Administrator Rik Hart said the gallery had evolved from its humble beginnings in the ‘70s, with the Gosford Art Prize now recognised as a significant goal for artists to aim for.
“I want to congratulate the major prize winner, Remy Faint, alongside the other division winners, and give my sincere thanks to all the artists who entered from across Australia,” he said.
The 2023 finalist exhibition runs until November 5 at Gosford Regional Gallery.
It is open from 9.30am-4pm daily and entry is free.
Source:
Central Coast Council