National Drawing Award 2006 Winner Announced

National Drawing Award 2006 Winner
Artist: Christina Read
Title: I should have been a detective

National Drawing Award 2006 Merit Awards
Artist: Tessa Laird
Title: The Omnipotence of Thought

Artist: Marnie Slater
Title: Six Days To Be Alone

Artist: Peter Madden
Title: Just Growing Mushrooms

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

National Drawing Award 2006 Winner Announced

ARTSPACE and The Physics Room are pleased to announce the winner of the National Drawing Award 2006 is Auckland-based artist Christina Read.

Christina Read’s drawing titled ‘I should have been a detective’ was selected as the winner from 550 drawings by the 3 judges, ARTSPACE Director Brian Butler, City Gallery Wellington's Senior Curator Heather Galbraith and The Physics Room's Director Danae Mossman.

The judges said: "'I should have been a detective' is full of mystery, absurdity and sophistication that plays on its simple rendering. It appears to be a mindless doodle, yet on closer inspection the work offers an intriguing ambiguity that creates a spin of ideas and possibilities."

“The winning drawing was one that all three selectors couldn't walk away from. Its apparent simplicity belies the layers of association that spark on viewing. It provoked lively discussion and kept snagging us back.”

The 2006 winner Christina Read is awarded $4000 cash and will also have a publication co-produced by the two galleries.

The judges also chose three merit award drawings by Tessa Laird, Peter Madden and Marnie Slater: “The drawings given merit commendations were also truly fantastic, Peter Madden's strange milieu of zoological and botanical bedfellows was accomplished and elegant in its composition, Marnie Slater's disembodied sleeping face, both haunting and exquisitely rendered, and Tessa Laird's genuine facsimile of a Len Lye notebook - a riot of stream of consciousness opinion (real or fake?) and a terrific riff of historical legacies and early-mid 20th century fascination with indigenous treasures.”

“Once we got down to the final ten works, every drawing was so different, following its own route of enquiry, through a range of media. It is so heartening to see so many brilliant, funny and unsettling works exploring this medium.”

All 550 entries are exhibited at ARTSPACE and The Physics Room, in two parts with a swap between the galleries over the Christmas holidays. Part One, 2 - 16 December and Part Two, 16 - 27 January 2007.

Opening the award up to a wide audience, the public vote will decide on the People's Choice Award, announced on 27 January 2007 at The Physics Room. The winner receives $1000 cash and a full page reproduction of the drawing in the autumn issue of Art News.

The Physics Room and Artspace acknowledge the generous support of Chartwell Trust, Real Art Charitable Trust, Art News and Becks.

ENDS

© Scoop Media