City of Dunedin Art Award winner Smashing Ice, by Anna
Smythe. Photo by Craig Baxter.
A former New Zealand sprint champion finished ahead of
the field in the 2013 City of Dunedin Art Awards at the Art
Station last night.
Dunedin artist Anna Smythe's acrylic on canvas painting
Smashing Ice, of a hooded character wandering into a
wintry scene, was announced the winner of Dunedin's premier
art prize in the packed gallery. Smythe (34) won New Zealand
athletics championships gold medals in the 200m in 2005 and
the 100m in 2010.
Judge Simon Kaan said the exhibition was so difficult to
judge he had to assess it on three separate occasions during
the week.
Eventually, the winning work ''just stood out'', he said.
''I liked the mysticism of it. It was beautifully painted.''
Otago Art Society president Andrena Hall said nearly 100
entries had to be culled from the 230 works in the
exhibition. The show runs until April 7.
Results were.-Smashing Ice, by Anna Smythe, 1,
($3500 prize); The Waiting Game, by Jasmine
Middlebrook, 2, ($2500); Numismatique, by Richard
Bolton, 3, ($1500).
Merit awards ($500): Stewart Island, by James
Cordery; The Day They Closed Our Tramway Down, by Alf
Berland; Ring (a deer antler carving), by Fumio
Noguchi.
Mayor's Choice Award ($1000): George Skipper,
by Sandra Duncan.
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