Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize Announces Winner

The 2023 Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize has been awarded to Melbourne-based artist Louise Tate for her work Self Portrait with Strawflower. Chosen from 420 entries and 38 finalists, the painting will find a home in the Bayside Gallery’s collection, and earn the artist $15,000 in winnings.

Senior Research Curator at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart Jane Clark was on the judging panel for the prize, as well as Dr Chris McAuliffe of Canberra’s Australian National University. Clark said of the work that “The artist extends the genre of portraiture into the allegorical realm, picturing herself in profile while a single flower sprig ruptures her facial features and, perhaps, signals her inner mind. The unusual composition communicates a correlation between the short-lived perennial strawflower and human mortality.”

Alongside Tate’s work, artist Lorna Quinn was named by the judges as the winner of the Local Art Prize. A non-acquisitive award for artists with practices within the community, the artist’s use of colour particularly impressed Clark and McAuliffe. They say of her painting Like an Oyster that “The work draws the viewer into a minute yet expansive landscape. The work’s glowing presence and formal strength demonstrate a strong and capable voice from a young artist.”

The works will be on display as part of the Prize exhibition at the Bayside Gallery until Sunday 2 July. Visitors will be able to vote to determine the winner of the People’s Choice Award, which will be decided at the close of the exhibition. For more information, visit the prize’s website here.

Update Wednesday 5 July: The People’s Choice award has been selected for this year’s Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, with Ches Mills charming the most visitors with her artwork Altered state.