The Diverse Beauty of Australia’s Landscape Showcased at Hadley’s Art Prize 2024

Thirty-five distinct representations of the Australian landscape are displayed in two large rooms at Hadley’s Orient Hotel in Hobart. These works, each a finalist in the 2024 Hadley’s Art Prize, span a variety of mediums. The exhibition of the Hadley’s Art Prize finalists is on display at Hadley’s Orient Hotel in Hobart until August 25, 2024.

Launched in 2017 with the goal of enhancing Tasmania’s vibrant arts and culture scene and bringing art back to the walls of Hobart’s oldest hotel through an acquisitive art prize, the Hadley’s Art Prize has awarded over half a million dollars in prize money since its inception. This has often been transformative for winners, such as Kunmanara (Peter) Mungkuri from the Iwantja Aboriginal community, who, after winning in 2017, used his prize money to buy a car for spear-making workshops and to visit other communities.

This year’s finalists hail from nearly every corner of Australia and include returning participants like Ray Arnold, Amanda Johnson, Megan Walch, and Kieran Karritpul, as well as newcomers such as Conrad Tipungwuti from the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory. Notably, the 2024 competition saw a record number of Tasmanian artists, including the winner, 28-year-old Hobart-based painter Zoe Grey. Grey’s painting “The Shape of Rock” (2024) not only secured the top prize but also the $1,000 Packing Room Prize.

The judges acknowledged the difficulty in selecting a winner. Tasmanian-based artist Neil Hammond, a past winner from 2018, noted that art prizes are inherently subjective. To qualify, each finalist’s work needed to exhibit creativity, technical skill, and a compelling concept or story.

For the judges, Grey’s personal connection to Marrawah, a small coastal community on Tasmania’s North West Coast, was a decisive factor. Grey explained that the form in her painting represents Preminghana, a mountain she grew up seeing daily. Her work, one of 28 paintings in the exhibition, is distinguished by its confident use of paint and abstract style.

Grey described how her work has evolved to focus less on depicting a place and more on conveying complex feelings related to place. This connection to Marrawah remained strong even during an artist residency in Svalbard, northern Norway, where her work still reflected her ties to home.

Tasmania, home to Australia’s largest landscape art prize, boasts over 1.5 million hectares of natural environment on the World Heritage register since 1982. This recognition was partly thanks to pioneering landscape photographers like Peter Dombrovskis and his mentor Oleagas Truchanas, who highlighted Tasmania’s unique beauty. Grey, having grown up in a relatively remote part of the state, believes the Tasmanian landscape invites deeper human engagement.

Following a sold-out exhibition at Hobart’s Despard Gallery and an upcoming show with James Makin Gallery at Sydney Contemporary, Grey had planned a short break from her studio work. However, winning the prize has altered her plans, with the prize money making it possible for her to consider living and working as an artist in Marrawah permanently.

Grey expressed her intention to move back to Marrawah within a year, making her artistic dreams a reality.

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