An eclectic collection of Arthur Guy Memorial Prize finalists will be on display to the public from Saturday.
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The winner of the seventh Arthur Guy Memorial Prize will be announced tonight and judges have had a tough time choosing the stand out artwork.
More than 30 finalists make up the exhibition, a number whittled down from more than 270 entries.
Five judges were tasked with selecting the winner including La Trobe University senior lecturer of visual arts and design Vincent Alessi, Castlemaine Art Gallery and HIstoricl Museum director Jennifer Kalionis, Sydney Morning Herld art critic John McDonald, Bendigo Art Gallery board vice chair Julie Millowick and Guy family representative Peter Guy.
“The finalists are pretty representative of what’s happening in contemporary painting,” Dr Alessi said.
“Because we have so many judges who all have their own preference, there’s a really good blend of (artworks).”
Lieutenant General Angus Campbell will present the award at the exhibition opening tonight.
Arthur Guy, who the award is named for, died while serving in New Guinea during World War Two.
Guy family representative Peter Guy said it would help memorialise his uncle.
“Angus is a remarkable person and to get him to come to Bendigo for this, we are very lucky,” Mr Guy said.
“(The prize) seems to be very well supported and Leanne and the Bendigo Art Gallery do a fabulous job in getting so many entries.
“To (help) cull it to a final selection is quite humbling. You look at an image on a screen and at the click of the mouse you dispense with an artwork that has someone’s heart and soul in it. It’s a fairly tearing process.”
Julie Millowick said each of the 272 artist who entered had clearly worked very hard.
“It’s such a huge responsibility to go through these works and bring it down to 31 (finalists),” she said.
“A lot of artists are juggling jobs so they can work in their artistic medium and the have all been working so hard.”
John McDonald said art competitions were always a mixed bag but that the Arthur Guy Prize has a very consistent standard.
“It was quite hard to make a decision. We have some very good artists in this show,” he said.
“Sometimes a very good artist might not give you their best work and a completely unknown artist might produce something that is surprising and interesting.”
Works from the shortlisted artists will be on display at Bendigo Art Gallery in the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize exhibition from August 29 to November 1.
The 2015 winner will be announced at the exhibition’s opening on Friday, August 28.