Ōpōtiki Artist wins People’s Choice Award
A new award plaque has been added to the 2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award – Painting and Drawing (MMCA) exhibition at Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi. Organisers are excited to announce that the recipient of the Law Creative People’s Choice Merit Award ($500) is the finely-rendered oil painting, Fencing Assistant, by Mark Anstis.
The Ōpōtiki-based portrait, figure and ‘plein air’ painter was surprised and happy to hear the news yesterday, as was the award sponsor, Law Creative Group. “I'm glad that Mark won,” says Brendon Law. “I've long admired his work, and in this case, it speaks to the taste of many people.”
Mark’s artist statement is succinct, linking his portrait of a young girl wearing red band gumboots to “the nineteenth century French realist movement, which celebrated the daily lives of ordinary people”. It is a fitting reference for a work that won the respect of many voters this year.
The Molly Morpeth Canaday Award exhibition is presented by Arts Whakatāne and Whakatāne District Council, and can be viewed at Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre, until Sunday 7 April 2019.
www.mollymorpethcanaday.co.nz