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Paul Laspagis_The Defiance of Nature_Winner Autumn Exhibition 2022

Official Opening and Awards Presentation of the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition


Above: Paul Laspagis, 'The Defiance of Nature', Oil on Linen

Winner of the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition Mackley Prize.

The Mackley Prize is sponsored by Eileen Mackley AM VAS FVAS and Hylton Mackley AM.

580-AutumnWin-PLaspagis

with his winning painting titled 'The Defiance of Nature' in oil.

Judge's Notes: 'This painting is the one I kept returning to. It is a painting that creates its strength from both its painterly surface and geometrical interwoven shapes. The artist has used a muted tonal range, yet the landscape reference is a constant and at the same time ambiguous.

'The landscape is broken up and reassembled yet the abstraction remains. A worthy winner.'


590-Autumn22-Winners

2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition Winners

From left: Lucy Fekete, Highly Commended Award; Ruby van Engelen, Exhibiting Young Artist; Paul Laspagis, winner of the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition Mackley Prize; Fred Toumayan, winner of the VAS Sculpture Prize for the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition; Judith Leman FVAS, Highly Commended Award for Sculpture, with Richard Impey, President of the Victorian Artists Society.


Last night the Victorian Artists Society officially opened the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition and presented the Mackley Prize and the VAS Sculpture Prize.

The VAS Autumn Select Exhibition is first of three Select Exhibitions held each year by the Victorian Artists Society. Votes cast by exhibiting artists at each of the VAS Select Exhibitions are used to decide the list of candidates for the Victorian Artists Society Artist of the Year Award.

The Judge for the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition was Peter Wegner.

The winner of the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition Mackley Prize was Paul Laspagis his painting titled 'The Defiance of Nature' in oil on linen.

The winner of the VAS Sculpture Prize for the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition was Fred Toumayan VAS for his sculpture titled 'Harmony of Shapes' in wood.

Highly Commended Awards were announced for the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition for the following artists: Ulrich Stalph VAS, Clive Sinclair VAS FVAS, Julian Bruere VAS FVAS, Anne Melloy VAS, Ron Reynolds VAS and Lucy Fekete.

The Highly Commended Award for Sculpture was presented to Judith Leman FVAS for her bronze sculpture titled 'In the Field'.

Congratulations to the winning artists and all Victorian Artists Society member artists who participated in the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition.

SEE THE 2022 VAS AUTUMN SELECT EXHIBITION HERE

Judge Peter Wegner

Peter Wegner is a Melbourne figurative painter, sculptor, and draughtsman. Peter has famously painted his friend Graeme Doyle hundreds of times over their 30-year friendship. He has held solo exhibitions in Sydney and Melbourne and his work has been included in group exhibitions including at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney, the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, and the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Peter’s awards include the Archibald Portrait Prize 2021, Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 2006, the Gallipoli Prize in 2013 and his work is held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery Canberra, Art Gallery of New South Wales, the State Library of Victoria Melbourne, and several regional and tertiary Galleries.

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2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition sculpture awards

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Fred Toumayan VAS with his winning sculpture titled 'Harmony of Shapes' in wood

Winner of the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition Sculpture Prize

Judge's Notes: 'A great sense of negative space coupled with an uneven balance that adds to the aesthetic.'

580-AutumnHC-JLeman

Judith Leman FVAS with her bronze sculpture titled 'In the Field'

Highly Commended Award for Sculpture in the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition

Judge's Notes: 'A well thought out sculpture where the artist has a good understanding of the medium.'


Highly Commended Awards

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Lucy Fekete with her painting titled 'Painting while Waiting'.

Highly Commended Award in 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition

Judge's Notes: 'This painting captures a moment, like a time capsule. Drawn with enough detail to represent the waiting.'


590-22-AutumnHC-CSinclair

Clive Sinclair VAS FVAS, 'Afternoon, Westernport', Oil

Highly Commended Award

Judge's Notes: 'Clive Sinclair’s paintings strength lies in the economy of brushwork. Broadly painted and evocative of capturing an approaching storm.'


580-22HCAutumn-AMelloy

Anne Melloy VAS, 'Frosty Morning, Corryong', Pastel 

Highly Commended Award

Judge's Notes: 'This small pastel evokes a time of day. Quickly drawn on a black background leaving just enough suggestion of the landscape.'

50-22HCAutumn-UStalph

Ulrich Stalph VAS, 'Otways, Autumn' Mixed media

Highly Commended Award

Judge's Notes: 'In this painting, the artist has referenced the landscape in a painterly gestural manner. We are allowed to enter this painting with a road that curves its way through the hillside. The colour palette also speaks of the harshness of the terrain.'


580-22HCAutumn-JBruere

Julian Bruere VAS FVAS, 'Phantom Scene 12', Watercolour

Highly Commended Award

Judge's Notes: 'This watercolour traces a history of a traditional technique. Extremely confident and yet loose enough to allow detail to remain.'


500-22HCAutumn-RReynolds

Ron Reynolds VAS, 'Steep Hillside', Oil

Highly Commended Award

Judge's Notes: 'A well thought out landscape, evocative of a muted palette.'


Exhibiting Young Artist

500-Autumn-YoungArtist

Ruby van Engelen

Exhibiting Young Artist in the 2022 VAS Autumn Select Exhibition

Autumn Exhibition Opening photography by Ron Smith OAM HON FVAS, VAS Councillor


The Victorian Artists Society - VAS GALLERY

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Tel: (03) 9662 1484

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All Enquiries:

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