2024 River of ART prize winner - Annika Romeyn
Annika Romeyn’s watercolour monotype print “Passing Through” has won the prestigious River of Art Prize for 2024. Over eighty people gathered at the Narooma Gallery on Friday 27 September for the judges’ decision.
The judges, Cath Bowdler and Tony Oates both said, “We can’t take our eyes off Ms Romeyn’s work,” and they were impressed by the artist’s use of light, detail and texture.
Ms Romeyn from Wanniassa, ACT, when asked how she interprets her piece, said “This represents breaking my journey at Guerilla Bay, Yuin Country: revisiting place to mark the passage of weather, time, life. Letting the ungraspable blue of the horizon seep into this one-off painterly print.”
Passing Through, watercolour monotype with watercolour addition.
71x91cm
$3450.00
Runner Up - Cathy Laudenbach
Described by the artist Cathy Laudenbach, of Moruya Heads, as an imaginary composite photograph, simultaneously evoking beauty and chaos, nature and destruction – the Runner-Up Prize went to her work “What Remains, Remains”.
The judges said Ms Laudenbach’s entry was full of beautiful shifts in tone and its scale assisted in delivering its powerful message.
What Remains, Remains, digital photograph
112.6×51.61cm
$1500.00
HIghly commended - Katherine Boland
Highly Commended was a difficult task for the judges of the River of Art Prize, with the quality of this year’s entries really impressing Judges Bowdler and Oates. In the end, they agreed to award the Runner-Up prize to Katherine Boland’s image known as “Burn Orange No. 1”. The artist says the image is a statement on “our inaction on climate change and environmental destruction”. Ms Boland is a practicing artist from Merimbula.
Burnt Orange No 1, Photograph
58x64cm
$850.00
The 2024 Prize Pool
River of Art Prize
Winner – $3,500, plus $50 voucher to The Punt House, Batemans Bay
Runner-up $1,500 and Airpods from Clyde Computers Batemans Bay
Highly Commended $500 and $100 gift voucher from Juela Mogo.
People’s Choice – $300 from Mogo Village Framers
The Salon des Refuses in the Cottage:
People’s Choice – Dinner for two at the Oaks Ranch
We wish to acknowledge and thank the generosity of the above donors for the additions to this years cash prizes.
About the Judges
Cath Bowdler
Cath is an academic gallery director and artist who lives in Rosedale and has had a varied career in the arts – from arts administrator, curator and academic who has worked extensively with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and artists over the last 30 years. Cath was Director of 24HR Art (now NCCA) in Darwin, lecturer at Charles Sturt University, Director of Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and lecturer at Charles Darwin University, NT. She holds a PhD from the Australian National University in the field of Aboriginal Art and Culture
Tony Oates
Tony is Director of the Drill Hall Gallery in Canberra and has been the Curator of Exhibitions at the ANU Drill Hall Gallery since 2004. Tony was educated at the Australian National University and is a highly regarded curator and is strongly connected with the south coast region.
Finalists gallery
In alphabetical order: Mikey Barnard, Katherine Boland, Kym Brookes, David Campbell, Laura Murray Cree, Vanessa Colebrook, Trish Flynn, Annie Franklin, Judy Gordon, Rita Horta, Dianne Jay, Freya Job, Mia Karlsson, Bomber Krellaxion, Cathy Laudenbach, Lily Meade, Bessie Nunes, Geoffrey Odgers, Lizette Richards, Annika Romeyn, Alison Spurgeon, Ursula Straub ,Bernadette Trainor, Kate Wall, Diana White, Matthew Williams.
Images not alphabetical, click to view gallery
