DUO Magazine Percival Photographic Portrait Prize winners announced
Date published: 13 May 2016
The winner of the DUO Magazine Percival Photographic Portrait Prize was announced at a gala celebration at Pinnacles Gallery in Townsville tonight. Brett Canet-Gibson was awarded the $10,000 DUO Magazine Percival Photographic Portrait Prize for his stunning portrait The Life of Riley.
Local artist Chrissy Maguire was the recipient of the $5,000 Townsville 150th Anniversary Photographic Portrait Award for her fun and unique portrait Monty and his Man – Pipe, avoiding Box Jellies by standing still. The Townsville 150th Anniversary Portrait Painting Award celebrates the achievements of the region’s artists and unearths the unique stories of the local sitters they portray.
Community and Cultural Development Committee chair Cr Colleen Doyle was pleased to announce the winners and congratulated all entrants on the high calibre of entries.
“Townsville Anniversary 150th Portrait Painting Prize is an acquisitive award, and as such Chrissy Maguire’s The Life and Monty and his Man – Pipe, avoiding Box Jellies by standing still, will be joining City of Townsville Art Collection. It will be a powerful addition to the impressive portrait collection held by the city,” she said.
Judge, Professor Anne Marsh from the Victorian College of the Arts at the University of Melbourne, was impressed with the diverse array of styles and approaches to photographic portraiture taken by artists.
“The Life of Riley is a contemporary portrait encapsulating the strength, defiance and fragility of youth. Here a young male, soon to be adult, appears to search out the gaze of the viewer but it is uncertain whether he sees us. His eyes seem strangely vacant or preoccupied, the set of his mouth and the flare of his nostrils suggest a degree of hostility as he looks out from this frame and into a world. But the emotion is ambiguous: sadness, distain, distress and distrust vie for attention,” Professor Marsh said.
Brett Canet-Gibson said his winning portrait highlighted an important social issue; bullying.
“Throughout the last year leading up to his teenage years, Riley had been mercilessly bullied at school. He had been knocked out inside the classroom - kicked, punched and verbally abused in the schoolyard, and followed and harassed on his way home,” Mr Canet-Gibson said.
“After endless meetings with the school principal to no avail, Riley's parents decided to sell the family home and move away from the area. Taken in his backyard, this image was made on the evening prior to their departure for New Zealand.”
Chrissy Maguire’s resplendent black and white photograph of a man and dog swimming near Pallarenda captivated Professor Marsh.
“This is a quirky black and white fine art print that tells a local story about living in Townsville. Maguire’s skill as a photographer is clear in the subtle shades of grey and the textural detail of fur, skin, beard and water. But it’s the subject matter that gives the picture its narrative power as we start to imagine the life of the man with his dog. There’s a nonchalant ‘being here’ that gives the image a Zen sensibility but it’s saturated by an ordinariness that would shake off such pretensions.”
Ms Maguire said she asked Monty’s friend if she could photograph him and he enthusiastically agreed.
“We discussed the possibility of evening sunlight (no) and we decided on the highest tides in the morning. It was a wonderful shoot and I wish I could show the rest of the story. The day came – it was grey and bright all at once – and Monty put on a great show. He is the old king pin of the dogs,” she said.
Gallery Services manager Shane Fitzgerald congratulated both winning artists.
“2016 marks the second year of the DUO Magazine Percival Photographic Portrait Prize and the award is growing in both strength and popularity. This year we received entries of the highest calibre from right across Australia,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
The DUO Magazine Percival Photographic Portrait Prize is on display at Pinnacles Gallery, Riverway Arts Centre until Sunday July 10, 2016.
The DUO Magazine Percival Photographic Portrait Prize opens on Friday 13 May 2016 at 6.30pm. Professor Anne Marsh will hold a Judge’s Talk within the exhibition space on Saturday 14 May 2016 at 10.30am.
List of Winners:
DUO Magazine Percival Photographic Portrait Prize Winner $10,000 – Brett Canet-Gibson for his work The Life of Riley
Townsville 150th Anniversary Photographic Portrait Award Winner $5,000 – Chrissy Maguire for her work Monty and his Man – Pipe, avoiding Box Jellies by standing still
