Tauranga artist, Tawhai Rickard has won the prestigious $20,000 National Contemporary Art Award for a “nuanced and generous” installation titled Scenes from a Victorian Restaurant created from reclaimed wood, enamel/acrylic paint.
The winning work was selected by Melanie Oliver, arts curator and judge for the 2023 National Contemporary Art Award at Hamilton’s Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga O Waikato on Friday 28 July.
Through the National Contemporary Art Award’s traditional blind-judging process (concealing the artist names from the judge), Scenes from a Victorian Restaurant was chosen from an unprecedented more than 420 works submitted by New Zealand based and overseas artists.
“Rickard’s work Scenes of a Victorian Restaurant invites viewers to take a seat at the table, challenging us all to engage in a discussion on the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa. It is a provocation that is nuanced and generous, prompting us to think about the ongoing impacts of colonisation, and our failings in terms of Te Tiriti. This work clearly speaks to the most pressing issues of our time,” Oliver said.
Now in its 23rd year, the National Contemporary Art Award is a prestigious annual competition that showcases the best and boldest of New Zealand’s contemporary art. From a record-breaking number of entries, 41 artworks were selected as the finalists via a blind-judging process and one was chosen to win the cash prize of $20,000. The Award has been facilitated and hosted by Waikato Museum since 2006.
“Melanie Oliver has selected a truly extraordinary work from a selection that reveals the talent, depth, creativity and bravery of our contemporary arts sector” said Liz Cotton, Director of Museum and Arts, Waikato Museum.
The Runner Up and winner of the $5,000 Hugo Charitable Trust Award was Sung Hwan Bobby Park for BTM Ancestor Portrait (digital photograph).
Hannah Ireland received the Friends of Waikato Museum $1,000 Merit Award for Stained Cheery Wine (watercolour, ink and acrylic on found window), and Random Art Group $1,000 Merit Award went to Sara (Hera) Tautuku Orme for Darling, Tēnei Au (photograph).
All artworks in the exhibition are on display and available for sale at the Museum until Sunday 12 November, and entry is free.
– from NewsViews
