Walter Gobin is the winner of the national drawing competition.
Gobin won for his oil pastel drawing “Artist at work,” which was unveiled with 32 other entries at an exhibition and prize-giving ceremony at the National Gallery on Thursday, where a call was made for artists to engage more with social issues in their work.
Second place went to Dominique Hunter, for her graphite drawing “The Illusion,” while the third prize went to Josefa Tamayo, for a coloured pencil drawing “Mariposas.” Shimuel Jones was given the special bronze medal award for young artists. Curator of the gallery, Elfrieda Bissember, said that although art now comes in many new forms, drawing skills remain an important aspect of the basic language of artistic expression. “It is a means to an end,” she said, “but also an end in itself.”
Barrington Braithwaite, who delivered the judge’s report, said while the entries reflected great skill and talent, the three-member panel bemoaned the fact that the artists were not interpreting the society. “We have no record of 2008,” he said.
He urged artists to be fearless and to examine the issues affecting the society-the anguish of the Bourda market vendor in response to the effects of VAT”, he suggested. He explained that this has been one of the main functions of art throughout the ages.
Braithwaite reported that the judges welcomed the involvement of younger artists in the competition, and called it a step in the right direction. Another positive was the wider use of different media, which he said demonstrated that artists have been dedicating their time to non-traditional mediums. At the same time, he reminded that there is still a far way to go to move away from convention. “There are new grounds to be broken,” he declared, “New horizons to aspire to.”
Mrs Janet Jagan, Chairperson of the Castellani House Committee of Management, described the entries as being among the finest in the history of the competition, in respect of both quantity and quality.
She also welcomed the entries by new artists and opined that they might have been inspired by the recent staging of Carifesta. Braithwaite, however, later lamented that performing artists who produced work for the arts festival are still to be paid for their contributions.
The competition was sponsored by Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited.
The exhibition runs until November 15.
