Wyndham Art Prize 2021 – Winners announced

Melbourne based stylist, writer, creative director and artist, Gideon Wilonja has taken out the top award in this year’s Wyndham Art Prize.

Mr Wilonja’s took out the $12,000 prize for his mesmerising photograph, titled ‘Soft’.

The highly sought after Local Emerging Art Prize, a $5,000 acquisitive, was awarded to local artist Xiang Li for her work ‘The Werribee River Book’, which will now be part of the Wyndham City Contemporary Art collection.

Peter Burke was awarded this year’s new prize, TREAT, a socially engaged commission to work with the Wyndham community and with Deakin University’s Public Art Commission.

The Wyndham Art Prize, now in its seventh year, again attracted some fantastic artwork.

The annual contemporary art prize attracts entries from some of the best artists across Australia and offers a chance for local and emerging artists to exhibit alongside them.

Wyndham City Creative City portfolio holder Cr Marcel Mahfoud said: “Projects such as this encourage creativity, celebrate diversity and strengthen community all of which are key objectives of the Wyndham 2040 Vision.”

“It was an exciting exhibition opening because it’s Wyndham Art Gallery’s annual gala event and because it was the first opening at the Gallery since March last year due to the pandemic.”

“It was wonderful to see the Wyndham Art Gallery vibrant and full of energy and to see all the artistic works on display,” Cr Marcel Mahfoud said.

The Wyndham Art Prize 2021 celebrates the resilience of the arts and brings together creatives from Wyndham and across Melbourne.

The 2021 Wyndham Art Prize has had the most entries ever, with more than 300 works submitted. Of those, 84 were selected as finalists for this year’s exhibition including 20 local artists.

“We have paintings, sculptures, video, prints, drawings, ceramics and many other wonderful creations on display,” Cr Mahfoud said.

The exhibition is on display until 27 June. Entry to the Gallery is free and opening hours are Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, and 11am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday. The gallery is closed on public holidays.

Come and visit the Wyndham Art Gallery and see the amazing talent on display and don’t forget to cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award, sponsored this year by Arts Assist.

The Art Gallery is a key destination in Werribee City Centre which continues to evolve to be a vibrant place for people to live, work, study and visit.

For more information, visit www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/venues/wyndham-art-gallery