Entries for The 2013 Northern Rivers Portrait Prize close this coming Friday 19 April.
The painting and drawing prize is open to artists whose artwork depicts a person from the northern rivers who the artist believes to be of value to their lives and/or to the community.
Now in its fourth year, the prize is the most popular event on Lismore Regional Gallery’s calendar. Last year it attracted over 6,000 visitors, and received more than 300 entries from across the eastern states.
The 2013 Prize will be judged by Philip Bacon of the highly respected Philip Bacon Galleries in Brisbane.
Amongst the many entries nationwide, is our own local artist Eli Ashcroft who has a studio/gallery in Byron Bay’s Arts and Industry estate. Eli took the advice of Minas, from Osho’s House at Byron Bay, in selecting the subject of his portrait as being Donny.
Minas says, ‘I was inspired by Donny when I first met him cleaning up my street one early morning when he was pulling his wheelie bin behind him. As I approached him I found out to my great surprise that he didn’t work for Council; neither is he paid by any of the businesses in town for doing the work that he does out of the goodness of his heart.’
Yet Donny was homeless. Like many homeless people Donny would have his own story and circumstances for being homeless but at least he was trying to change his life around and at the same time pay back to the community in his own way. His gentle nature, his kindness in giving and his humility was just an inspiration for Minas who wanted to have him more exposed in the community for recognition and support.
Eli liked the idea of promoting Donny as it fitted in with his vision of portraying humanity in its many facets. Eli at the age of 29 years is an emerging artist who’s influenced from impressions in his life since growing up at the age of 11 in Kathmandu (Nepal) to spending time with his grandpa at the age of 16 on a house boat on Melbourne’s Yarra River.
Eli says, ‘These travels just made me want to step back a bit from the world of industrial development and more towards a life of making art that expresses the beauty of life and humanity’. His artistic style would be described as ‘modern, raw and unfettered’. His mixed media include gouache, clay paint, oil, pastel and acrylic on anything from canvas to board.
The exhibition
Finalist artworks are selected by Friday 10 May 2013. The exhibition is on at the Lismore Regional Gallery from Saturday June 8 to Sunday July 14. The winner announcement, by Philip Bacon, is on Saturday June 8 at 11am and the Peoples’ Choice Award announcement is on Friday July 12 at 4pm.
Overall Winner $10,000 acquisitive.
The Armsign Award $1,500 non-acquisitive – recognises and encourages outstanding artistic talent for those under 30 years of age.
Peoples’ Choice Award $500 non-acquisitive – awarded to the most popular work as voted by visitors to the exhibition
Prints of Donny are available from Eli’s gallery at 1/18 Centennial Circuit, Byron Arts and Industry Estate, Byron Bay NSW. www.eliashcroft.com
