From Sharne Wolff…
This year’s Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize includes the work of 43 contemporary artists selected from several hundred entrants. With a requirement that all works be less than 80 centimetres in any direction, the judges have chosen a range of new and established artists and a wide variety of works in assorted mediums.
Several artists have made works that engage with the impact of new technologies. Donna Marcus’s pair Khrushchev + Nixon demonstrate a new challenge for art (and more) – the second piece is a 3D replica of the original hand-made version. On the softer side, Troy Emery’s fluffy pink Wooly Woofter is like a cuter, smaller version of Jeff Koons’ famous Puppy while Dani Marti skilfully uses woven rope and glass beads for a blend of sensuality and pathos in My Sad Captain. There’s a sense of history and wit to Joan Ross’s fluoro-tinged Oh Darling Let’s Construct Something for those Charming Birds, Caroline Rothwell’s metal skeleton The Diviner and Amanda Bromfield’s posh-faced woman, Advocaat, Delft and Dodos. Politics enters the mix with Glenn Morgan’s wry look at ‘Australian Hospitality’ while Susanna Strati’s Wreath 2 and Julia deVille’s challenging Sorrow remind us of the perplexing beauty present in death.
Other finalists, too many to mention individually, include: Zoe Amor, Lisa Anderson, Uri Auerbach, Michael Bell, Stephen Bird, Walter Brecely, Maureen Cahill, Matt Calvert, Maria Chatzinikolaki, Jason Christopher, Peter Cooley, Marcel Cousins, Tracey Deep, Gordon Dingwall, Lynda Draper, Tegan Empson, Benedict Empson, Jen Fullerton, Bran Hoc, David Jensz, Nola Jones, Craig MacDonald, Darren McGinn, Mutsumi Nozaki, Denese Oates, Kirsteen Pieterse, Margaret Poulson, Louis Pratt, Gillie and Marc Schattner, Tim Silver, Abdullah Syed and Muhammad Iyhab, Wendy Teakel, Michelle Ussher and Cathy Weiszmann.
Until November 10
Woollahra Council Chambers, Woollahra
Pic: Glen Morgan, Australian Hospitality. Wood, tin, enamel paint 31 x 71 x 52cm. Courtesy the artist and Place Gallery.
