A work called Red handed by multimedia artist Emma Hercus has won this year’s $20,000 National Contemporary Art Awards.
The collage on MDF of an abstract masked figure with upraised hands, was chosen from more than three hundred entries.
All the finalists’ works are on show at Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato.
It’s an event that’s often hit the headlines since it started more than 20 years ago.
The media are notoriously sceptical of “modern art” and occasionally struggle to get their head around the winning work.
Lynn Freeman spoke to Hercus and to the judge, artist Reuben Paterson, who described the winning piece as “a celebration of adversity”.
“It’s a character with their hands in the air – they are red hands and they’re almost fluorescent – and there’s all these mottled colours within the character’s body and … it was a super experimental piece which was kind of like an accident,” Hercus said.
“I was painting something else on linen on top of the MDF board and when I lifted it up I saw this person kind of appear with their hands up and I thought that was way more amazing than what I had painted on top.
“I kind of want the viewer to look at it and make up a story as to what it means. But for me I wanted it to be a person who had no race, gender, sexual orientation, anything – a person who could respresent anyone.
“The raising up of the hands could be in prayer, they could be being arrested or super happy or welcoming someone.”
Paterson said the artwork’s thoughtfulness “entrapped” him.
“It just sort of seductively spoke so clearly about falling over but also rising up. That’s where the cleverness of the hands up comes in. It talks to being caught red handed and the character has this mask … but then the colours are so celebratory.
Paterson said there was a “real beauty” when an artist invited people to create a narrative for a character.”
2022 Runner Up and winner of the $5000 Hugo Charitable Trust Award:
– Raukura Turei for He Tukuna V (onepū, oil and pigment on linen).
2022 Friends of Waikato Museum $1000 Merit Award winner:
– Sara (Hera) Tautuku Orme for Ko Te Awa Ko Au -Darling (Darz) (photograph).
2022 Random Art Group $1000 Merit Award winner:
– Oleg Polounine for Dits and Dahs (aluminium foil sculpture).
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