Week 3 - The Walters Prize 2010

a) Saskia Leek
b) Fiona Connor
c) Dan Arps
d) Alex Monteith

In 2002, the Auckland Art Gallery founded The Walters Prize. It was named after the inspirational figure, Gordon Walters. The prize, usually given out every two years, includes a Saatchi & Saatchi’s exhibition space and $50,000 prize money. It is well known as the most prestigious prize for an artist in New Zealand, and it goes out to artists that achieves significant contribution to visual arts.

1.Saskia Leek: Her works consist of a variety of abstract settings, from architecture to natural landscapes. She uses oil paint, and a combination of pastel colours, which help to emphasize simplicity in her works.

2. Fiona Connor: Themes that revolve around her works would be the durability, values and purpose of everyday objects in the world. Her ideas are spatial and supported by process drawings- she collects objects from travelling and produces hand-made work.

3. Dan Arps: An experimental artist who works with sculpture and painting. He uses random objects to create a setting.

4. Alex Montheith: Her works are displayed in art galleries and film festivals. She focuses on media, such as film or video, photography, internet and other mediums that incorporate sound performance. She combines New Zealand’s natural setting of agriculture industry with fine-art

JURY MEMBERS 2010:
Jon Bywater - Programme Leader, Critical Studies at Elam School of Fine Art, The University of Auckland.
Rhana Devenport - Director, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, NewPlymouth.
Leonhard Emmerling - Visual Arts Adviser, Goethe Institute, Munich, Germany, former Director, ST PAUL St, AUT University.
Kate Montgomery - Director, Physics Room, Christchurch.

The judge for 2010 is Vicente Todoli. 7 years being director at the Tate Modern. He is a very well known and respected figure in the world of art. He is also thought to be the main reason behind the museum’s success.

My favourite artist would be Alex Monteith out of all the nominees. She is definitely bringing fresh talent and showing us a passion for film making in New Zealand. Her works are very crafty and thoughtful. It is also an advantage that she has international experiences. She also uses a wide variety of mediums such as film, photography and 2D works.