Head Judge Announced For 2021 Parkin Drawing Award

Sarah Farrar, Head of Curatorial and Exhibitions at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, has been selected as the Head Judge for the 2021 Parkin Drawing Prize national competition.

The national drawing competition, attracting a major prize of $25,000, was launched by philanthropist and arts patron, Chris Parkin nine years ago. Ten highly commended prizes worth $500.00 each will also be awarded.

An advisory panel, consisting of leading painter John Walsh of Aitanga a Hauiti/ New Zealand Irish descent, contemporary ceramics artist Virginia Leonard, and Director of Art at ART+OBJECT auctioneers Ben Plumbly, will access hundreds of entries before coming up with the short-list.

The winning submission will be selected and announced by Sarah Farrar at the gala opening of the Parkin Drawing Prize exhibition on Monday 2 August 2021.

“As Head of Curatorial and Exhibitions at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Sarah is uniquely suited to judge the best of New Zealand contemporary drawing practise. I am honoured she has agreed to undertake the role and very much look forward to her choice of winner,” said Chris Parkin.

The competition, in association with the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, promotes excellence and innovation in drawing in all its forms (processes, materials and ideas) and aims to play an important role in fostering New Zealand drawing practice.

Previous recipients of the award include Monique Jansen (2013) with AO Folded Moire Drawing, Douglas Stichbury (2014) with Observer, Gabrielle Amodeo (2015) with The Floor We Walk On, Hannah Beehre (2016) with Catastrophe, Kirsty Lillico’s carpet installation State Block (2017), Jacqui Colley’s Long Echo (2018), Michael Dell’s Every Valley (2019) and Poppy Lekner’s Forward Slash last year.

Entries close at 4pm on Tuesday 8 June. Forms and full details are available at www.parkinprize.nz.

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