Queensland lacks a significant competitive art event with a major prize pool like the Archibald-Wynne-Sulman trifecta. So it is encouraging to see a regional art group establishing a Queensland-based art prize, which may, in time, be able to establish some sort of cachet in the national art scene. In 2006 the revamped Redland Art Award moved away from the long history of a local competition under the auspices of the Redland Yurara Art Society (which began in 1962 as The Yurara Art Group). While art awards have been held annually by the group since 1981, this new initiative aims to produce a nationally-representative exhibition on a biennial basis, and, in the long term, to create an art competition with substantial prize money for artists.
While the prize pool is not yet sufficient to attract high-profile national names, the 2006 Redland Art Awards, shown in Cleveland, were presented with greater professionalism in a smaller, more tightly-curated initiative, making a strong down payment on the ambition. Over 400 entries were reduced to a display of 51 works.
First prize of $10,000 was awarded by Queensland College of Art Professor and Deputy Director Pat Hoffie to Longnoonan’s Bushtucker in Nyikina Country, a lively dot painting in resonant colour, which used a pointillist technique to create a highly dynamic picture plane. It was one of seven Aboriginal artworks included, reflecting the strength of this genre within contemporary art in Australia. Second prize ($2,500) went to Abbey McCulloch’s Loz Feliz, a scribbly double image of a girl from Los Angeles, and third prize ($1,000) went to Lyndon Stone’s Family portrait with Dog, a more folksy and narrative-driven image.
Hiromi Ozaki’s Essence of