Melbourne based artist Matthew Harding has been awarded the prestigious 2014 McClelland Award for his work Void. Announced at McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery by Neil Balnaves AO, Harding has been awarded a cash prize of $100,000.
McClelland Award 2014 judge, Dr Liz Kreijn, Assistant Director Collection and Presentation, Kröller-Müller Museum, Netherlands said “Void is a monumental work that looks very light and fragile against the weight of the surrounding Australian bush.”
“The work looks like it is just about to land, but can be blown away any minute. Looking at the work it makes one ‘zoom in’ and see details one has not seen before in the work but also of its surroundings. The work is beautifully made and artist Matthew Harding has found a way to evolve his style and form language and give it spiritual meaning.”
Robert Lindsay, McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery Director said, “Matthew Harding has consistently explored the linear patterns and mathematical principles found in Nature with inventive elegance and visual poise.”
“His McClelland Award winning sculpture Void has an intricate geometry that culminates in the grandeur of an overarching spiral form. It is a major contemporary sculpture that embodies a sense of the eternal geometry of Nature.”
Matthew Harding is an innovative Australian artist/designer engaged in a diverse practice of sculpture, public art and design. Trained in the visual arts, construction and industries and various craft traditions, Matthew pushes the boundaries of materials and process producing sculptural forms and design pieces in stone, wood, metal, glass and ephemeral media.
In a career spanning almost three decades Matthew has produced a substantial body of work across a wide range of artistic disciplines: large-scale public artworks, sculptural exhibition pieces, craft objects and furniture design. His work is part of several important public and corporate collections nationally and internationally.
Artist Sonia Payes was awarded the $30,000 McClelland Achievement Prize (MAP) for her work Re:Generation 2014. The MAP prize also includes a solo exhibition during the McClelland Sculpture Survey 2016.
The McClelland Award is the richest and most important biennial outdoor sculpture Award in Australia. Bringing together the best sculptural practice from across Australia, all 33 finalists sculptures will be displayed along the picturesque sculpture trail which winds its way through natural bush landscape and grasslands.
With this Survey, the sixth, McClelland continues to consolidate its position as one of the most important Sculpture Parks internationally. The McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award supports sculpture in a direct way with over $200,000 going directly to sculptors, making McClelland a major promoter of contemporary sculpture in Australia.
The McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award was established in 2003 and quickly established itself as the most influential and prestigious exhibition of outdoor public sculpture in Australia. It brings together a wide range of sculptors from emerging, mid-career and established artists, working in wide range of styles and different media. It truly encapsulates the best of current sculpture practice.
2014 McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award
McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, 390 McClelland Drive, Langwarrin (near Frankston)
Exhibition continues to 19 July 2014
Entry by donation
For more information, visit: www.mcclellandgallery.com for detail.
Image: Matthew Harding with his work Void 2014 – photo by Jim Lee