West Melbourne and Beyond: sculpture

Wyndham Art Prize 2023 Melbourne

Wyndham Art Prize 2023 had greater than 550 artworks submitted for the judges consideration. Of those, 71 were selected as finalists for 2023’s exhibition including nine local artists. Artworks included sculptures, paintings, drawings, ceramics, photography, video, prints, and many other distinctive creations.

The top award of the Wyndham Art Prize was created by Arrayah Loynd with the artwork an archival pigment print on cotton rag (Not pictured).

Wyndham Art Prize opening gala was on Wednesday 16 August and the artworks will remain on display until 22 October. It really is worth attending an opening gala to take in the atmosphere, meet a number of the artists and get a fuller appreciation of the artworks on display.

Wyndham Art Prize has a peoples choice award so if you have an entirely different taste than the judges you can participate and potentially reward another artist for their efforts.

The Wyndham Art Prize is held annually and we make an effort to attend the opening gala each year. I have to admit attendance seemed to be a bit down this year although it is probably an intangible as to what creates a crowd. Even so, for a week night during the winter period a great crowd still gathered.

Everybody has their own tastes so we do not try and indicate what we think are the best pieces of art. We all have our own life stories and what art connects with each individual is a personal experience. I personally enjoy something a bit unusual so the artwork with the fox or the bear with an axe kind of appeals to me.

Some people will enjoy the more traditional paintings or ceramics while that may leave others stone cold. There was a pretty good variety of art on display although arguably some of the political pieces verge on cliche. It is hard to communicate something in a nuanced and subtle way but in your face story-telling doesn't generally persuade people.

The Wyndham Art Prize is a showcase event so try and enjoy the artwork, ponder any messages the artist may be trying to communicate and just treasure the creativity and efforts of the artists who have participated. Their work is the communities gain.

Location

Wyndham Art Prize 2023 is housed at Wyndham Art Gallery 177 Watton St, Werribee VIC 3030. Being on the main shopping and dining street in Werribee the art gallery is very easy to find.