Final Forty Selected for 2010

It’s obvious from the first viewing of this year’s SCAP that the pre-selection panel have curated a very fine exhibition. The (relatively) new media of photography is a particularly strong sub-section, with some 11 photographs, or photography-based works accounting for over 25% of the total entries. Out of these, selection was extremely difficult, with such works as Michael Dewhirst’s ‘On guard’ (cat 12); Bronek Kozkas ‘Kew House, Dinner Time’ (cat 23 and Walker Stahl’s “Imperium II” (cat 35) being particularly striking. My commended award, out of this strong field, goes to Greer Honeywill’s ‘Architecture of the Heart III’ (Cat 16), this beautiful and haunting work is full of atmosphere and an ethereal, other worldly light. Technically it is a tour-de force; if Caravaggio was working today, this is perhaps the sort of images he would be creating. There were many outstanding entries amongst the more traditional media of pastel, charcoal, watercolour and paint. Kate Bergins’ ‘Scapegoat’ (cat 2) is an arresting work, as is Jonathon Crowther’s ‘The Marks of Time’ (cat 8) and Mark Thompson’s ‘Singer Sargent’s Pailleron Children’ (cat 38). The highly commended award goes to Catherine O’Donnell for ‘One way’ (cat 29), which is a technical marvel, using that traditional (and difficult) medium of charcoal, with a high degree of skill. This work, like the Honeywill, is imbued with atmosphere, and like a Jeffrey Smart or Edward Hopper, has managed to make a gritty, urban everyday architectural monstrosity into a thing of beauty.  

The Sunshine Coast Art Prize acquisitive award goes to Peter Hudson’s ‘Law’ (cat 18). This is an arresting image, very beautifully painted and one of this local artist’s most mature works. The ebb & flow of human consciousness, indeed of human life, emanates from the canvas. The rising moon exerts its power on the tidal seas, and the implacable force of the life cycle in nature surges and swims up through the canvas. I think this work is a worthy addition to the permanent collection, and I congratulate Peter Hudson, indeed all 40 finalists, for making this a particularly strong exhibition.

Phillip Bacon

August 2009