Michael Thomson has won the 2022 Basil Sellers Art Prize for an oil work exploring male identity.
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Mr Thomson's oil on canvas An Encounter on the Path that Leads to the River was announced as the winner at the Basil Sellers Exhibition Centre on Friday October 7.
Rain and flooding prevented southern tablelands artist Mr Thomson from accepting his prize in person, however his acceptance speech was read at the event.
"My work is focused on the concept of identity and in particular male identity. In this work I hope to show the subtleties within individual male identity and the relationships between those identities," Mr Thomson wrote.
Mr Sellers was present to make the winners announcement and said he appreciated all the support for the prize and exhibition.
"Many entries were submitted and there is a lot of work to determine which should make the final cut and go into the exhibition," Mr Sellers said.
The Basil Sellers Art Prize has grown from strength to strength since its 2004 inception and is now open to artists across the nation.
Eurobodalla prize winner
Gillian Wilde was announced as the winner of the Eurobodalla Prize for applicants from within the shire, walking away with $5000 for her watercolour and ink collage Glory Going.
Mayor Mat Hatcher praised the contribution of Mr Sellers to the arts in the shire.
"I'm thrilled to be standing in this stunning, purpose-built space alongside Mr Sellers - who made this all possible - and with many of the finalists. It's fair to say the quality of work in this exhibition is really next-level," Mr Hatcher said.
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National Gallery of Australia's associate curator of Australian art Simeran Maxwell and Basil Sellers Art Prize judge said she appreciated the consistently high quality of work in the exhibition.
"The diversity of subject matter and medium made this a really hard task - I was looking for technical excellence, original thought and aesthetic," Ms Maxwell said.
The $500 People's Choice award winner will be announced on Friday November 18.
The Basil Sellers Art Prize exhibition runs at the Basil Sellers Exhibition Centre in Moruya, more fondly known as The Bas, Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm, until Sunday November 20.
