Melbourne-based painter Mary Tonkin has won this year’s Holding Redlich People’s Choice Award with her landscape painting titled Hot kiss, Kalorama from works selected for the 2022 Salon des Refusés: The alternative Archibald & Wynne Prize selection exhibition. The announcement by Holding Redlich’s Sydney Managing Partner Stephen Trew was made at the Gallery this evening.
The artist statement reads, “Hot kiss, Kalorama was made entirely en plein air in bush on my family’s farm at Kalorama in the Corhanwarrabul (Dandenong Ranges), East of Narrm (Melbourne) during late Summer and early Autumn. In this spot the bush is dominated by Brown Stringybark and Messmate gums (Eucalyptus baxteri and obliqua) with an understory of Prickly Currant Bush (Coprosma quadrifida) and Bracken Fern ( Pteridium esculentum). It is named after the memory of a particular kiss; the somewhat shattering tingle and sparkle of which seemed alive in the forms as I painted them.”
Landscape painter Mary Tonkin completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in 1995 and a Master of Fine Arts in 2002 at Monash University, where she has also lectured. Tonkin has held solo exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney since 1999. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery and internationally in New York. A survey exhibition titled ‘Home’ was held at Burrinja Gallery in the Dandenong’s in 2012. Tonkin was awarded the National Gallery of Victoria Trustee Award in 1994 and 1995 and Dobell Drawing Prize in 2002. She was the recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshield Foundation grant in 1998 and Australian post-graduate fellowship award in 2000. Tonkin’s work is held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, VIC and several regional and tertiary institutions.
On learning of her win Mary said, “I’m thrilled to hear the news and particularly delighted that a landscape has won the Holdng Redlich People’s Choice this year. I’m hoping it’s an indication of a shift in our culture; away from an obsession with ourselves toward a veneration of the landscape that sustains us.”
National law firm Holding Redlich has been a long-time supporter of the Salon des Refusés exhibition and People’s Choice Award at the National Trust’s S.H. Ervin Gallery. The Holding Redlich People’s Choice Award is valued at $3,000 and celebrates its 24th year in 2022.
Holding Redlich’s Sydney Managing Partner, Stephen Trew, made the announcement at the Gallery, congratulating Mary on her winning artwork and wishing her the best for her future creative projects.
“It’s an honour for Holding Redlich to recognise Mary tonight and present her with a very well-deserved People’s Choice Award. Our firm’s founder Peter Redlich loved, and was an advocate for, the arts. It’s wonderful to acknowledge our heritage and continue his passion, through our ongoing partnership with the S.H. Ervin Gallery,” Stephen said.
The National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery initiated the Salon des Refusés in 1992, in response to the overwhelming number of entries submitted to the Archibald & Wynne prizes (AGNSW), yet never seen by the public.
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks, Sydney Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 5pm (closed Monday) Enquiries: (02) 9258 0173
http://www.nationaltrust.com.au