Winner Of Bold Horizon National Contemporary Art Award

Winner Of Bold Horizon National Contemporary Art Award Announced 5 August 2011

For Immediate Release

A painting that doubles as an iPhone QR code has been announced as the winning entry in the Bold Horizon National Contemporary Art Award 2011. The announcement was made at an awards ceremony at Waikato Museum this evening (Friday, 5 August).

The entry titled ‘Blue Poles’ is by New Zealand artist Andre Hemer, who currently resides in Sydney. As the winner, Mr Hemer receives $15,000 in prize money.

Award judge John Hurrell, who selected Mr Hemer’s entry from amongst 42 finalists’, praised the high standard of entries received.

“This year there was an especially high standard of application and so, because of space limitations, some shaping was necessary to fit the available space,” he said.

“The winning work by Andre Hemer is a painting that doubles as an iPhone QR code, linking to a Google map showing where Jackson Pollock's famous Blue Poles (1952) is located in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. This American painting was purchased by the Whitlam Government in 1973 for $2 million. Possibly the most important twentieth century artwork in the Southern Hemisphere, Pollock's work is referenced by Hemer to speak of cultural capital and national status globally, and the aspirations of a New Zealand artist looking at it from afar.”

Three merit awards were also presented this year. They went to Hamilton artist Tony Nicholls for his entry ‘Datamining System’, Kaikoura artist Matt Moriarty for ‘Suture’ and Havelock North artist Jeff Drabble for ‘Art Tribalised’.

The finalists’ work will now be displayed at Waikato Museum until 6 November, in an exhibition that the judge curated to have a “gritty urban flavour”.

More than 200 entries were received for this year’s award, which is sponsored by Hamilton marketing and creative agency Bold Horizon and hosted by Hamilton City Council’s Waikato Museum.

• An image of the winning entry is attached.