The Wynne Winners and me

This week is a huge week in the art world in Australia. Three huge art prizes are announced and there’s always contention surrounding them. You may remember a few weeks ago, I posted a collage of Ugly Beauty. A collage of a huge eroded gully near where I live.

I wasn’t shortlisted but the winner of the Wynne have been announced and I like the work. Take a look at them here.

It’s interesting to look at the shortlist as there’s a great array of landscapes here, which is the foundation of the Wynne prize. But what I also like is I think it’s achievable. This time of year, there’s always a huge discussion about what constitutes art. And the reality for me is if you call it art, it is art.

You don’t necessarily need a piece of paper to say you’re an artist, look at all those stunning self-taught artists who have done well for themselves or Duchamp who turned a bottle-dryer into a ‘ready made’ piece of art.

I’m not dismissing technique by any stretch of the imagination. You need it, you need skill to forget it later, but discipline and confidence are the greatest foundations for creating art.