Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin takes out Australia’s richest landscape prize

Senior Pitjantjatjara artist Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin has taken out the top spot at the 2022 Hadley’s Art Prize.

The annual acquisitive landscape award, presented at Hobart’s character-filled Hadley’s Orient Hotel, is worth a cool $100,000 – the richest of its kind in Australia. Goodwin is the first woman to win the major prize since its inception in 2017.

Antara depicts the ancient storyline of Maku Tjukurpa, or Witchetty Grub story, from Mimili, an Anangu community on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in the northwest of South Australia.

Goodwin was pleased and grateful that the judges selected a storyline that means so much to her community for such an important prize. “I am happy to share my story with the whole of Australia,” she said at the winner’s announcement.

This year’s deserving winning work was selected from a finalist group of 35, whittled down from more than 500 entries. This year’s esteemed judging panel included Australian Waanyi artist Judy Watson, Senior Curator of Art at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Dr Mary Knights, and Head Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Wayne Tunnicliffe.

Watson describes the winning work as “Amazing. It draws you in with its constant movement. It’s just so vibrant and exuberant … It’s a very performative work, you can feel and see the artist moving across the work, making the work, singing the work. We were all drawn into that and that’s what we loved about it.”

“Choosing the winner was a unanimous and quick decision, we all gravitated to Tuppy’s work immediately,” says Tunnicliffe. “The energy and generosity in the painting is remarkable.”

Watson describes the judging process as “very engaging” and says, “there was [a] diversity of artists, materials and aspects and I think that’s what makes a good art prize […] when you see difference.”

Alongside the major award, the Residency Prize aimed at supporting an emerging artist is worth $10,000. It was awarded in its second year to Darwin-based Max Bowden for her work And a nice day was really had by all. The Residency Prize includes a one-month artist residency at Salamanca Arts Centre, accommodation at Hadley’s sister property, the Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel, and $500 in art supplies from Artery.

The $1000 Packing Room Prize was awarded to Tasmanian-based artist Catherine Woo for her work A moment in the day. Woo, who is represented by Arc One Gallery in Melbourne and Beaver Galleries in Canberra, said it was “a true honour” to be recognised.

The Finalists Exhibition is presented at Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart, from 23 July to 21 August 2022. entry is free and all artworks (bar the winner, which is acquired by the hotel) are available for sale.