Auckland Art Gallery is delighted to announce the 2006 judge for the $50,000 Walters Prize - New Zealand's richest and most prestigious contemporary art award.

Italian contemporary curator and writer Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev is at the forefront of an exciting new generation of globally connected curators. She is a highly active player in the international art field with a string of major exhibitions and publications to her name.Auckland Art Gallery is delighted to announce the 2006 judge for the $50,000 Walters Prize - New Zealand's richest and most prestigious contemporary art award.

Italian contemporary curator and writer Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev is at the forefront of an exciting new generation of globally connected curators. She is a highly active player in the international art field with a string of major exhibitions and publications to her name.Currently chief curator at the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art in Turin, Christov-Bakargiev will be artistic director of the 2008 Sydney Biennale. Last year she cocurated the first Turin Triennale and was previously senior curator at New York's P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre.

She is an expert on the Italian Arte Povera movement and specialises in weaving connections between historical avantegardes and contemporary art.

Auckland Art Gallery director Chris Saines says; "Appointing an international judge to select the Walters Prize brings the finalists' works to the attention of one of the world's top art commentators, and also forges an ongoing relationship for the New Zealand contemporary arts community".

"While knowledgeable insiders pick the finalists, the judge comes to the projects with fresh eyes and awards the prize based on the work presented. For this reason the outcome is at once difficult to predict and telling."

The Walters Prize, modelled on Tate Britain's Turner Prize, is awarded for an outstanding contribution to contemporary art in New Zealand in the past two years. In June, a jury of experts appointed by Auckland Art Gallery selected four finalists.

Finalists:
Stella Brennan nominated for Wet Social Sculpture 2005, first shown at St Paul St Gallery
Phil Dadson nominated for Polar Projects 2004, first shown at Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Peter Robinson nominated for The Humours 2005, first shown at Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Francis Upritchard nominated for Doomed, Doomed All Doomed 2005, first shown at Artspace

The judge will announce the winner at a gala dinner at Auckland Art Gallery on 3 October. The winner receives $50,000 plus an all expenses paid trip to New York to exhibit their work at Saatchi & Saatchi's world headquarters. The finalists receive $5,000 each.

Judging the Walters Prize holds a special resonance for Christov-Bakargiev. Her mentor, eminent Swiss curator Harald Szeemann, judged the inaugural Walters Prize in 2002. Szeemann, who died last year, awarded the prize to the work he considered "the most irritating" by Auckland artist Yvonne Todd. In 2004, New York curator Robert Storr, listed by Guardian Unlimited as one of the art world's 10 most important people, awarded the prize to et al, saying the work "puzzles me the most".

Longstanding gallery supporters Simpson Grierson are proud sponsors of this year's judge. Chairman Rob Fisher says "The Walters Prize recognises the best and boldest of New Zealand contemporary art and helps elevate New Zealand talent globally."

The exhibition runs from 2 September to 19 November at the New Gallery, on the corner of Wellesley and Lorne Sts.
www.aucklandartgallery.org.nz