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A place for exchanging comments, reviews, opinions, research, news, links, responses, ideas etc, about contemporary art on the Central Coast, and its social, ecological, political, educational and economic circumstances. We hope this blog will provide an arena for constructive analysis and commentary about the circumstances of practice for artists living and working on the Central Coast of NSW, a zone with disproportionately few resources for engaging with the critical edge of contemporary art.
2 comments:
Size of the Prize.
I would like to take up the invitation to write about the Gosford Art Prize.
Although relatively new to the region, I am a practicing artist and think that any comment that adds to dialogue about art practice is useful.
I managed to see most of the Gosford Art Prize before the lights went out at the Regional Gallery on Sunday, and the volunteer who had been neurotically enforcing the No Photography rule turned her attention to controlling the doors.
While many of the works selected showed a considerable degree of mastery of their medium, the exhibition included too many that were of the ‘art show’ variety. Why is it that art prize exhibitions so often resort to a 19th Century French Salon style of presentation – too much jumbled in and too much that should be jumbled out. I wonder how this inclusiveness exemplifies the curator’s catalogue statement that a role of the Gosford Art Prize is in “setting benchmark standards for the artists in the Central Coast region”. Does it mean that the Central Coast has very loose standards?
This is a worrying concept. Just what standards does a competitive Prize exhibition set? Certainly not the same ones as a curated thematic exhibition or one that interrogates issues arising in international contemporary practice (and regional responses to them).
“Benchmarking” is a word from corporate and business management. What are we benchmarking and managing? How and by whom are the benchmarks set? Is it the role of the Regional Gallery to set standards? Reflect them? Raise them? Critique them? Would it not be more useful to consider that artists have more individually universal and professionally global aspirations that transcend regional geography?
But enough of these musings in the dark -what about the art.
It was a bit like not being able to see the trees for the forest. This forest has a vast number of trees and very few species, and within those, very few ‘families’ represented – so there is a low level of diversity. To extend the metaphor, it is a highly specialised niche forest-type, and therefore vulnerable in terms of sustaining adaptability.
Perhaps the presence of so much landscape brought on my ‘ecological’ fit.
In the “Prize” I found a strong presence of representation in various forms using pictorial conventions; genre paintings, recognisable imagery, emotional and expressive abstraction or a combination of the above. Interestingly I thought the ceramic work of Hidemi Tokutako evaded some of these categorical cul-de-sacs and could have been a contender in the sculpture division, which overall was disappointing.
The sculpture was disappointing because, despite some works being nicely executed in terms of form, material and surface, overall it was not strong conceptually. Maybe this is a condition of sculpture in Australia in general, although I have seen some impressive work since coming here. Perhaps it is that many questioning artists investigate their ideas through the potential of other forms such as installation, socially engaged practice, performance, data and video projection, IT and interdisciplinary hybrid forms. None of which are represented in the Gosford Art Prize.
When the curator writes that, “the Prize brings together the full spectrum of styles”- which it clearly does not, I wonder how it can be setting “benchmark standards”. Perhaps the Gallery could run an annual program of Prizes, painting in January, photography in February, performance in March, ceramic in April, installation in May etc. Could be a nice little earner.
Also I was a little puzzled by the arrangement of work. The sculpture seemed to be ‘at-large’ while the photography and ceramics were corralled in the foyer, and there seemed to be some grouping of 2D entries that had another purpose. An example of this, which was a problem for me, was the clustering in a corner of works with formal attributes associated with Aboriginal Art. What was the curatorial message being presented to us by grouping works by Brett Parker, Kelly Roach, Wendy Pawley, Nicola Read, Ross Smith and Madeline Anderson together?
In the same vein, hanging the two works by Giselle Penn with Sandy James’ ‘coat’ created a skin/clothing sub-category with possible implications for the judging process.
It is of course an impossible task to hang an exhibition of this size and diversity and ensure all works are presented in the best way, and that everyone is happy. The staff members have obviously worked long and hard to achieve a professional presentation. A more cynical person than myself might wonder why two of the most highly priced works, The Wood Sculptor, Peter Smeeth, $18, 000, and Bush Creek Series, Judith White, $9, 650, were given such favourable positions (Bush Creek even had an avenue of sculptures to frame ones approach), while Peta Werlemann’s Lion-esque was so low on the wall that the balance of the composition was undermined (I would give this work the 2D Best Buy – value for money award).
The “gorgeous young artist Jamie Enstrom Johnson”, as described in the Regional Gallery newsletter, did manage to engender some quiet edginess, and overall there were some professionally well executed works in this exhibition, that was a pleasant compliment to coffee and a springtime walk in the gardens – at least until the southerly hit.
David Barton.
Post script.
Size IS the prize? Is the regional gallery in danger of being caught in an alms race? The catalogue tells us that the gallery’s reputation is strengthened because the prize is larger. Will it be necessary to demonstrate a stronger reputation by having bigger prizes than competing competitions?
Good luck, and I look forward to the next GAP.
All in all a great revenue raiser !
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