Old stagers spring a surprise
- Author:
- Shant Fabricatorian
- Posted:
- Thursday, 12 November 2009
For the art world, ‘The Next Big Thing’ traditionally means a promising young prospect. But last Friday, the usual rules were upstaged for the second time in a week. Following 91-year-old May Barrie’s victory in the Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Prize, it was the turn of 80-year-old Pam Hallandal to take out this year’s Dobell Prize for Drawing, at the Art Gallery of NSW.
First awarded in 1993, the Dobell is Australia’s most prestigious drawing prize, with a prize of $25,000. But Ms Hallandal, at least, has form with the competition – she won it in 1996 with Self portrait, and was the competition’s judge three years later.
This year’s winner, Tsunami, is inspired by the 2004 Boxing Day disaster, a subject which has engaged Hallandal in the years since. Depicting a swirling vortex of figures in a circle, it represents an “apocalyptic vision” of the human drama resulting from the tragedy.
Twice-winner of the Dobell and this year’s judge, Nick Mourtzakis, said the piece was powerful and poignant. “Tsunami engages a subject of monumental destruction and yet in its totality the work achieves a profound equilibrium,” he said. “Infused with a subtle and powerful poetry of form this drawing is a deeply moving work of art.”
The 46 finalists in the competition, out of a total of 649 entrants, are on display at the Art Gallery of NSW until January 31.
Pam Hallandal with her prize-winning drawing, ‘Tsunami’
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Story posted on Thursday, 12 November 2009, filed under City News. Follow responses via the RSS feed.
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