Estuary inspires winning artwork
BY KRISTINA RAPLEY
WINNING ARTWORK: The Battle for the Rebirth of Tahuna Torea by Brendan McGorry.
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Being inspired by the environment has paid off for artist Brendan McGorry.
He is this year’s winner of Estuary Artworks, a joint art competition between Uxbridge Creative Centre and the Tamaki Estuary Pollution Steering Group.
His painting titled The Battle for the Rebirth of Tahuna Torea, won him $8000 in prizemoney, and the opportunity to have a solo exhibition at Uxbridge next year.
The competition is supported by Auckland Regional Council and Manukau City Council, and has been running for four years.
It is designed to create awareness and appreciation of the Tamaki Estuary.
Uxbridge curator Melissa Elliott says they had nearly 90 entries, with 39 selected as finalists.
"I was really impressed with the overall standard of the entries. Artists followed the brief and came up with a contemporary artwork in response to the theme of protecting the estuary."
Mr McGorry, who is a fulltime artist as well as teaching art classes at Uxbridge, says he was intrigued by the competition’s theme.
"I thought it was an interesting concept. Normally with competitions you can do anything you want, but this one had a focus, so it was a good excuse to do a bit of research."
His painting is about the balance between the environment and the pollutants that affect it.
Mr McGorry says it’s also about celebrating the people who have been putting work into rebuilding the Tamaki Estuary.
He thinks his artwork won because instead of doing a pretty illustration of birds and nature, he did something a bit more unusual. Getting kicked out of art school in 1986, and having his own exhibition two years later, it seems he works better going against the grain.
He intends to use the prizemoney to help him survive as an artist because the income can often be inconsistent.
An exhibition of all the artwork will be open at Uxbridge Creative Centre in Howick until March 10.
Visitors can vote for their favourite artwork and the people’s choice will receive $450 at the end of the exhibition.
For information visit www.uxbridge.org.nz or contact the centre on 535-6467
- © Fairfax NZ News
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