NATIONAL Works on Paper is one of the finest art awards and exhibitions in the country, attracting Australia’s leading contemporary artists working with paper, and is on at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery until 24 November.
There were 1,049 artists from across Australia who submitted entries for NWOP 2024, with 70 works shortlisted. Every state and territory is represented and for the first time, four Mornington Peninsula-based artists are finalists; Eleesa Howard, Joshua Searle, Rosie Weiss and Gidja Walker OAM. From painting, printmaking, drawing, video, sculpture and weaving, the finalists’ works explore the possibilities of paper and the personal and political power of paper as a medium.
Founding Director of MPRG Alan McCulloch loved the medium of paper. As an art critic, cartoonist, illustrator and commissioner of illustrations for publication, he made the pragmatic decision 50 years ago to build a collection around works on paper. These days, the NWOP awards and acquisitions are supported by Mornington Peninsula Shire and Friends of MPRG.
On Sunday 8 September, MPRG will host a series of artist talks, including Adelaide-based First Nations artist Nici Cumpston OAM, NWOP 2020 winner Annika Romeyn (from Canberra), Gippsland based paper artist Mandy Gunn, and from Melbourne, abstract artist Emily Ferretti, Gail Hastings, whose practice is informed by 1960s minimalism and Briony Galligan, a collaborative drawing and performance artist.
Local artist Eleesa Howard is running a Form, Colour Play and Repetition workshop on Monday 16 September and there are a series of school holiday workshops for kids, including sculptural forms with Gidja Walker OAM and watercolour painting with Jennifer Mills. Visit the gallery website for more information.
First published in the Mornington News – 3 September 2024
