Gemma Smith has been awarded the 2024 Mosman Art Prize for her captivating work, Pollen Prism.
The prestigious accolade, which comes with a $70,000 prize, was announced by curator and writer Julie Ewington, this year’s judge.
“Pollen Prism was made in response to my time at Art Omi: Artists’ Residency program, where the expansive lush green of the New York rural summer around the studio was overwhelming,” says Gemma Snmith.
“Here the methodology was complicated by the local conditions in my open, airy studio known as the Corn Crib – a place where corn was once hung to air-dry. The heat and humidity of high summer meant the paint would tack up quickly, but would ultimately be slow to dry. The resident carpenter bees in the ceiling shared their bright yellow pollen (and occasional leg) with the painting.”
The Mosman Art Prize is Australia’s longest-running and most coveted municipal art prize. It boasts a rich history of showcasing exceptional Australian talent, with past winners including art luminaries such as Grace Cossington Smith, Lloyd Rees, and Adam Cullen.
Commenting on the winning work, judge Julie Ewington says: “Gemma Smith undertakes glorious explorations of colour and gesture. These are governed by rigorous protocols that Smith uses to direct each painting, ensuring that every work will be fresh and surprising, including for the painter.Essentially, Smith’s paintings are exercises in inspired perversity.”
“Pollen Prism is an ode to sensuality; made during a residency in upstate New York, in high summer, it testifies to the season‘s warmth with its rich colours, and the way it registers the exact conditions of its making. Splendid, confident, and affirmative, Pollen Prism holds its divergent energies together in an unlikely, and wonderful, tension.”
Smith’s winning piece, Pollen Prism, will now become a valuable addition to the Mosman Art Collection, a significant archive of Australian painting since 1947.
In addition to the main prize, Khaled Sabsabi received the Margaret Olley Commendation Award for his work Popaganda (partA + partB), while Nick Santoro took home the Alan Gamble Award for his piece 5G Panel. The Guy Warren Emerging Artist Award went to Jacquie Meng for her painting playing pool.
The Mosman Art Prize has been running for 77 years, and a total of $88,000 in prize money was awarded to artists across four categories:
Major Prize (acquisitive) $70,000 – Supported by Mosman Council
Winner: Gemma Smith for Pollen Prism 2023, synthetic polymer paint on linen
Margaret Olley Commendation Award ($10,000) – Supported by Gillian and the late Brian Jones
Winner: Khaled Sabsabi
For Popaganda (partA and partB), 2024. Synthetic polymer paint, watercolour and gouache on dye diffusion thermal transfer prints
Allan Gamble Award $5,000 – Supported by BresicWhitney
Winner: Nick Santoro
For 5G Panel, 2024, synthetic polymer paint on board and aluminium
Guy Warren Emerging Artist Award $3,000 – Supported by Fourth Village Providore
Winner: Jacquie Meng
For playing pool , 2023, oil on canvas
The Mosman Art Prize exhibition, featuring the winning and shortlisted works, will be open to the public from August 10 to October 6. Visitors can vote for the Viewers’ Choice Award, with winners announced prior to the exhibition closing.
2024 MOSMAN ART PRIZE
Mosman Art Gallery,
1 Art Gallery Way Mosman NSW 2088
Dates: Saturday 10 August – Sunday 6 October 2024.
Open: 7 days, 10am – 4pm, open until 8pm on Wednesdays
Cost: Exhibition is free to the public
Artist talks: Public programs include artists talks Wednesday 14 August and 11 September, 6pm-8pm
Website: https://mosmanartgallery.org.au/exhibitions/2024-mosman-art-prize
Photo credits: Jacquie Manning.
