Starting gates open for IHC Telecom Art Awards

Media release from IHC New Zealand Inc
25 May 2010

Starting gates open for IHC Telecom Art Awards

Four top judges will be lining up the winners as the starting gates open for the IHC Telecom Art Awards 2010.

Head of WORLD fashion house Denise L’Estrange-Corbet is back for her second time judging, sharing the panel with artists Otis Frizzell and Sue Upritchard, and Saatchi Design Worldwide creative director Blake Enting.

The IHC Telecom Art Awards are open to all New Zealanders with an intellectual disability, whether or not they use IHC services. Entries open on 4 June 2010. The top 30 entries from three regional competitions – 10 finalists from each region ¬– will be announced in August. The finalists’ work will be exhibited at the St James Theatre Gallery, Wellington, from 14-21 September.

The winners are announced on Awards night, Tuesday 21 September, and members of the public can bid online or at the regional exhibitions to take home their favourite pieces.

Blake Enting says he is impressed by the purity of self-expression and the uninhibited nature of art work done by people with intellectual disabilities.

His younger sister Stella, who has Down syndrome, is a wonderful painter, he says.

“More often that not she will paint rainbows, or she will paint flowers, or she will paint a lot of rainbows with Michael Jackson in the middle of it, because she likes Michael Jackson and she likes rainbows. “Her example of how to live and how to express herself emotionally in the world is a constant barometer for me.”

Denise L’Estrange-Corbet says judging the 2009 awards was the highlight of her year. “I am looking forward to meeting them all again and seeing their wonderful artworks".

Otis Frizzell, an ex-graffiti artist turned painter-printmaker-illustrator, has been handed the judge’s baton by his Dad, painter Dick Frizzell. Dick, who judged the awards in 2006 and 2009, told him to “expect anything”, Otis says.

Sue Upritchard, a Christchurch based collector-artist, devotes a lot of time to looking at the works of other artists – and she says she feels honoured to be asked to judge these awards.

The IHC Telecom Art Awards were established in 2004 to recognise the creativity of New Zealanders with an intellectual disability. The event is steadily growing in popularity, with more than 400 people entering in 2009.

IHC thanks Telecom for supporting the Art Awards for the seventh year running.

Community Sponsorship Manager Alex Milne says that the Awards have become a special part of Telecom’s ongoing community partnership programme.

“For Telecom, the Awards are all about shining a light on talented New Zealanders with an intellectual disability.

“Our staff have really taken the Awards to heart with works from previous years decorating office spaces across the country and a large Telecom staff involvement.”

“Art can be a very powerful form of communication for those with an intellectual disability as it allows them to voice their own unique perceptions and feelings.”

The winners will be presented with their awards at a function in Wellington on Tuesday 21 September 2010 at the St James Theatre Gallery. First prize is $5000, second prize is $2000 and two third-place winners each receive $1000. There is also a People’s Choice award, chosen by Telecom staff throughout the country.

Art works and entry forms must be submitted between 4 June and 2 July. The closing date is 4pm, 2 July 2010. The entry form and conditions of entry can be downloaded from the IHC Telecom Art Awards website www.ihcartawards.org.nz

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Regional exhibitions:
Wellington: 12 July – 27 August, Alpha Art Studio
Christchurch: 7 July – 9 August, CoCa Gallery
Hamilton: 22 July – 27 August, Sandz Gallery

The judges

Denise L’Estrange Corbet
Denise is co-founder and designer of one of New Zealand's top fashion brands, WORLD, which celebrated its 21st birthday this year. Denise is also a published author, a weekly contributor to the New Zealand Herald Canvas magazine, she has a radio slot commenting on fashion and beauty trends, and is a regular public speaker and an avid reader of English history.

She says she is delighted to have been asked to judge the Telecom IHC Awards again this year. “I had enormous fun travelling around the country, and meeting the entrants who both inspired and humbled me with their enthusiasm, kindness and talent.”

Blake Enting
With both a father and grandfather in the advertising business it was perhaps inevitable Blake would end up there also. Although, he jokes, as the creative director of Saatchi Design Worldwide, with his focus on ‘design’, he’s still technically one step away from the advertising game.

He has spent the past 14 years working for some of New Zealand’s leading design companies and he has been behind many successful local brands, including; Icebreaker, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Telecom.

At Saatchi Design Worldwide he drives the creation and management of strategic, idea-led brands. This has included work for clients including Sony Ericsson, Guinness and Proctor & Gamble. He sees his role as communicating the meaning of company to allow customers an informed choice.

Enting trained as a graphic designer and went on to complete further study in design management. He is also a passionate photographer. His most recent exhibition was EastEast, in 2007. New work is in the pipeline.

Otis Frizzell
Otis Frizzell, ex-graffiti artist, now lives and works in Auckland as a painter – still with aerosols – and printmaker and illustrator.

He has been a TV and radio personality, hip hop performer, tattooist, graphic designer and a celebrity minder/driver for visiting rock stars. Otis and Mark "Slave" Williams had radio slots on Base FM – a collective of DJs broadcasting from Auckland – and then they transferred to TV with The Mo' Show.

Otis still paints with aerosols, but his art has come in off the streets and on to walls, and on to the record sleeves of Che Fu, Concord Dawn and Fat Freddy’s Drop. He is in the process of designing the album cover for Fat Freddy’s third album. Otis works solo, and also as Weston Frizzell, a collaboration with fellow artist Mike Weston, on art productions that draw on appropriated imagery, style and content.

Sue Upritchard

Sue Upritchard studied painting at the University of Canterbury and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1999. She lives and works in Christchurch. Much of her work is based on collections, for example; cicadas, crushed earth, recycled wood, fabric, but mostly her huge collection of cut-outs from photographs.

The cut-outs are mounted away from the wall on long dressmaking pins, creating shadows. These installations sparkle with jewel-like colour and light, drawing the viewer to explore the hundreds of tiny images of familiar objects. A huge collection of coloured knitting needles sits in pots around her house – and will one day be part of another work.

Sue has exhibited regularly since 2003, with shows at COCA, Forrester Gallery, Dunedin Art Gallery and in Art Goes Country at the Christchurch Art Gallery in 2006.

ENDS

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