2019 R & McGivern Art Prize winner announced

Highly regarded Melbourne artist Nadine Christensen has been awarded the R & M McGivern Prize 2019 for her work, ‘Hang in there’, announced on Thursday 28 November at Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery.

The winning art piece, announced at the launch of the R & M McGivern Prize finalists’ exhibition, was chosen from 45 pre-selected finalists, with the artist awarded the prestigious title of ‘most outstanding artwork’ and $25,000 in prize money.

The acquisitive prize was established through the bequest of the late Muriel Evelyn McGivern, and held in trust, as a legacy to her support of the arts in Maroondah. Awarded every three years, the $25,000 prize money is awarded from the McGivern Trust to the painting that is judged most worthy by an expert panel of judges.

This year’s judging panel comprised Charlotte Day (Director of Monash University Museum of Art), Ryan Johnston (Director of Buxton Contemporary) and Penny Teale (Bunjil Place Gallery Curator).

The judges commented that ‘Hang in there’, 2018, acrylic on sustainable farmed hoop pine with cedar stretcher, “is a technically accomplished painting that renders a collision of imagery, scale and painterly planes in a masterfully cohesive fashion”.

“Christensen’s work reminds us that while life is fleeting and fragile, there is hope in the midst of despair.”

The artist’s winning painting will become part of the Maroondah City Council Art Collection, a significant public collection of Australian art.

Maroondah Mayor and Chair of Council’s Arts Advisory Committee, Councillor Mike Symon, said this year’s theme ‘The Anthropocene’ attracted entries from established and emerging artists local to Maroondah and from around the country.

“Congratulations to Nadine Christensen on being selected as the winner for 2019. Submissions to the R & M McGivern Prize this year were of outstanding quality, and we received a record 450 entries. We could have easily put on a fabulous exhibition from entries which did not make it to the finalists’ exhibition,” Cr Symon said.

The acquisitive prize is awarded every three years for an outstanding artwork in the medium of painting (oil, gouache, acrylic or watercolour) and is open to artists Australia-wide.

Shortlisted works are on display across two venues in the Ringwood arts precinct – ArtSpace in Realm and Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery – as part of the R & M McGivern finalists’ exhibition until Saturday 1 February 2020.

Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to vote for the People’s Choice Award, valued at $1000, and the artwork that receives the most votes will be announced on Friday 31 January 2020.

This year’s theme of ‘The Anthropocene’ invited artists to consider the impact of human habitation on the environment.

Muriel McGivern is fondly remembered for her colourful writings, paintings of the Australian landscape, and dedicated local history publications.

Nadine Christensen said the R & M McGivern Prize took on extra special meaning as an award established in the name of the late Muriel Evelyn McGivern, a female artist in her own right.

“I’m so thrilled and excited,” Nadine said of being named this year’s R & M McGivern Prize winner.

Of her winning piece ‘Hang in there’, she says: “The built environment, the fly and its banal connotations, the melancholy yet hopeful message – are all rendered as provisional, temporary, momentary, fleeting and interconnected.”

Nadine said the prize provided an important platform to display the work of not only seasoned and emerging artists, but female artists, who she felt were largely under-represented and undervalued in the art world.

“I’m honoured and thrilled to be in the company of the likes of artists such as Rose Nolan, winner of the 2016 McGivern Prize, and whose work is held in the Maroondah City Council Art Collection.

“It’s been wonderful to have such recognition amongst my peers and colleagues in the art world. To be brought into the Maroondah City Council Art Collection in this way, and to have the philanthropic support by Maroondah Council, is so important for artists,” she said.

Nadine said the award provided her with the opportunity to progress her artistic practice, which encompasses painting, installation and drawing and which comprises an ongoing investigation into natural phenomena.