WARNING: PLEASE NOTE THE WINNING ARTWORK CONTAINS NUDITY
If the 2021 Pattillo Whanganui Arts Review is anything to go by, people in our region have been busy creating in the past 12 months.
While, undoubtedly, 2020 was one of the toughest years many of us have experienced, the interruption to life as we knew it and the uncertainty and questions we all experienced have been channelled by many into art.
The Sarjeant on the Quay is positively stuffed full of 157 original artworks created in the past 12 months by the artists of our region, which make up this year's Whanganui Arts Review which opens today, March 6.
The announcement a week ago of the change in Covid-19 alert levels meant the long-standing tradition of the opening night of the Whanganui Arts Review, followed by the announcement of the 12 award winners, had to be scrapped and the winners were announced on Friday night on the Sarjeant's new online hub, accessed through the Sarjeant website, dedicated to the Whanganui Arts Review.
Fortunately, they had developed the Arts Review hub thanks to the support of principal sponsor Anne Pattillo who is always asking them to come up with new ideas to offer the Arts Review artists and sponsors more and better and national exposure. With the level change last Saturday they could transition to online pretty easily.
This year's judge Reuben Friend is kaihautu and director of Pataka Museum and Art Gallery in Porirua, has been curator of Māori and Pacific art at City Gallery Wellington, and in a previous life worked in policy as the senior adviser for Treaty relations at Wellington City Council.
"Judging has been challenging as it's so hard to decide to decide between mediums," he said. "I've seen many excellent works in ceramics, fibre, glass photography, painting and sculpture in the exhibition and I've awarded across a range of different mediums. The winners tend to just stand out on their own to me, without me knowing who the artists are. Some of the works I can't quite capture in words but they speak to me visually and are interesting and exciting."
The Open Award winner for 2021 is Andrea Gardner with her work Now I Have Your Attention which is an inkjet print.
"There's nothing quite like coming into the Sarjeant Gallery and being confronted by the talent that resides in this region," Anne Pattillo, the principal sponsor for the past three years, said. "From works on paper, fabric, sculpture to the most unimaginable creations. Every year that I look at the work of this region as part of the Arts Review I have to say I feel a little chuffed to have a little slice of that joy and creativity."
Sarjeant Gallery director Greg Anderson said: "This is the third year that Anne and her company Pattillo have been principal sponsors of the Arts Review and I believe their involvement is a great endorsement of the quality of Whanganui's artistic output."
All the winning works and finalists are on display at Sarjeant on the Quay.
2021 Pattillo Whanganui Arts Review winners
2021 Pattillo Whanganui Arts Review Open Award winner: Andrea Gardner, Now I Have Your Attention. Inkjet print on Ilford Smooth Pearl.
2021 Pattillo Whanganui Arts Review Open Award: Andrea Gardner, Now I Have Your Attention. Inkjet print on Ilford Smooth Pearl. Photo / Michael McKeagg
Article & Vernon Money Poppins Excellence Award: Tia Ranginui, Taniwha - from the series Tua o Tāwauwau. Archival print on hahnemuhle photograph. Photo / Michael McKeagg
Whanganui Garden Services Ltd Merit Award: Andre Bronnimann, Christie. Acrylic and oil on linen. Photo / Michael McKeagg
* Jaki Arthur is the Sarjeant Gallery relationships officer.
