Title

Tom Malone Prize 2018.

Venues

Art Gallery of Western Australia. (31 March 2018 – 28 May 2018)

Date

(2018)

Summary

Multi-artist exhibition. Located: Australia (WA). Decorative & Design arts (Glass)

Curator

Cook, Robert (Curator Contemporary Design and International Art)

Country of context

Australia

Abstract

Our annual showcase of contemporary Australian glass.

Glass is one of the most exciting and dynamic art forms in this country. It is a uniquely captivating medium, capable of almost endless transformation. Glass provides a perfect vehicle for the exploration of a range of themes, from the personal to the observational, and Australian makers are some of the world leaders in the medium.

Now in its sixteenth year, the Tom Malone Prize is a highly respected and eagerly anticipated event for contemporary Australian glass artists.

An acquisitive prize, each year’s winning entry becomes a part of the State Art Collection and the winner artist is awarded a prize of $15,000. This year, and for the next four years, the Prize is supported by Art Gallery of Western Australian Benefactor, Sheryl Grimwood.

The Tom Malone Prize 2018 brings together many of Australia's best glass artists. This year's 13 short-listed artists are Joanna Bone (QLD), Benjamin Edols and Kathy Elliott (NSW), Judi Elliott (ACT), Holly Grace (VIC), Gerry King (SA), Peter Kovacsy (WA), Marc Leib (WA), Jeremy Lepisto (ACT), Tom Moore (SA), Nick Mount (SA), Jason Sims (SA), Blanche Tilden (VIC) and Kayo Yokoyama (NSW).

Tom Moore was awarded this year’s honour for his work Pyrotechnic puffer fish.

The judges commented:
"Tom Moore is arguably the country’s most consistently humourous and out-there glass artist. His practice moves across installation in locations as diverse as galleries and gardens, and also includes output in drawing and animated video. Over the years, he has given Australian and international audiences access to new creatures in glass as he has been responsible for the evolution of countless strange types of hybrid species. And now we have his Pyrotechnic puffer fish. It is a remarkable breed that comes into being via a gamut of historical Italian references to the famed properties of glass that would shatter if touched with poison and more modern and contemporary surrealism. We love it for its detail, its evidence of glass mastery, its straight-faced hilarity, dazzling technical spirit, and, above all, for seeming to come straight out of a dream as most of Tom’s creatures do. It really is like nothing we have seen before. Tom won the Tom Malone Prize in 2013. He is now, therefore, the fourth of the double winners of the Prize, joining Cobi Cockburn, Jessica Loughlin and Clare Belfrage in this position. With this award he is part of a truly elite group of Australian artists excelling in this most demanding of mediums." [Gallery media, 2018].