Impressive collection of art

The Northland Art Awards opened at Kerikeri's Turner Centre on Sunday evening to popular and critical acclaim. The exhibition, comprising the work of 64 finalists from all over Northland in the categories of youth, traditional and contemporary work, was described by the organisers as covering a wide range of work stylistically, offering something for everyone and an impressive representation of Northland's talent.

BDO Kerikeri sponsored the two major prizes of $4000, with $500 for the youth winner from the Rona Swallow Trust. The Law North people's choice award will be announced on Sunday when the exhibition ends. It will remain open to the public from 10am to 5pm daily until then, with all the work displayed available for purchase.

Judge John Daly-Peoples was impressed with the standard of the work, and specifically commented on the winning entries.

With its gold background, youth award winner Sharn Hodgson's 'Power in Youth' showed a connection with ancient art, he said, "as though it were a Byzantine religious icon. It manages to successfully elevate the portrait to that of a deity or saint. The clear drawn detail is well handled, and the attention to hair and facial detail means that there is a real sense of the sitter, possibly the artist confronting the viewer."

The winner of the BDO traditional award, which fell into both headings, was Paul Kim for his watercolour 'Flowers and Birds.'

"In many ways this work is contemporary in the cultural crossover and its experimentation," Mr Daly-Peoples said.

It combined two traditional styles, the 18th and 19th century landscape/botanical tradition of Chinese painting. There were also links between the Asian landscape and the local - the rocky headland and the waterfall - and cultural links with pohutukawa shading a chrysanthemum and pukeko mingling with peacocks, kingfishers and tui. The inclusion of a kiwi and her egg provided a nice metaphor for new beginnings and arrivals.

"I also enjoyed the way in which some Asian elements were used, as in the high viewpoint looking through clouds and the stylised wave curls," he added.

"The work reminds me that when European artists first arrived in New Zealand they imposed a cultivated European view of landscape on the rougher New Zealand. In this work we see another immigrant reworking the same landscape."

The BDO contemporary award went to Glen Hayward for his 'New Tattoo' (Veilux), "or as we might call it, video surveillance camera. The work appealed to me for a range of technical, social and aesthetic reasons. A number of contemporary artists play with ideas and concepts about gallery spaces. Hayward presents us with one aspect of the gallery which is always there, the camera, which records all that happens, as a collection of images".

"It is also the means by which the audience is always on display in a separate room run by the hidden watchers. And this aspect of watching is another part of the work, particularly today with the debate of worldwide video surveillance. Except this artist's camera is a very benevolent one - it doesn't see anything.

"The work is also in the tradition of the found object, where an artist takes an ordinary object, places it in a gallery and calls it art, raising questions about artists creating and the meaning of art.

"There is further delight in this being a hand-made object made of kauri, in many ways a pointless task but lovingly produced.

" So this therefore lies in the craft tradition, where technical skill is valued, just as we might admire the cherubs and filigree of a cathedral or palace."