The opening of the National Drawing Exhibition took place Thursday at the National Gallery, Castellani House, with the announcement of winners of the eighth biennial National Drawing Competition, sponsored by  Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited. Mrs. Patricia Plummer, General Manager, Credit, deputizing for Republic Bank’s Managing Director Mr. John Alves, presented competition prize winners with their medals and honoraria, in the presence of special invitees including senior management and staff of Republic Bank, members of the diplomatic corps, members of the artists’ community and competition entrants.
Mrs. Plummer emphasised the bank’s pride in its association with the National Gallery for a total of sixteen years. The bank has most particularly provided unbroken sponsorship since 1996 for the National Drawing Competition, now in its 8th biennial year. Curator of the National Gallery Elfrieda Bissember thanked the bank for their unwavering support of the gallery’s programme of encouraging the best in the appreciation and execution of art practice through their biennial competitions.
Ms. Bissember noted that the size of the competition had doubled since its last occasion, from 17 artists and 33 entries in 2008, to 34 artists submitting 64 entries this year.
The First Prize winner of the competition Gold Medal and an honorarium of $75,000 was artist and musician Francis Bailey for his work, ‘The Festival of Dreams’.
The second prize of a Silver Medal and $50,000 was awarded to 2009 Burrowes School of Art (BSA) graduate Winston Alexander for his work ‘The Dream’.
A tie in the scoring saw two artists awarded the third prize: both artists, Darnell Wilson and Dominique Hunter, received Bronze Medals and cheques for $35,000, for their drawings, ‘Vintage’ and ‘Surrender’ respectively. Wilson had previously won the Special Young Person’s (16-18 Years Age Group) Prize in 2006; and Hunter, a Best Graduating Student and Best Painting Student 2007 at the BSA, had been awarded the Second Prize in the 2008 competition.
From among sixteen competitors in his age group, the Special Young Person’s Prize of a Bronze Medal and honorarium of $25,000 was awarded to Stephen Craig, for his work, ‘Hurt the Floorboards’.
Honourable Mentions were received by Jorge Bowen-Forbes for ‘Los Pescadores’ (The Fishermen), and Travell Blackman, for ‘Engine Oil’. Bowen-Forbes is a distinguished Guyanese artist who re=migrated from the United States in 2009 and had a major exhibition, ‘Remembering Guiana and Other Paintings’, at the National Gallery in May this year; while Blackman has previously been a multiple prizewinner of both drawing and watercolour competitions at Castellani House, as well as a Best Graduating and Best Painting student (2004) of the BSA.
Judges of the competition were artist Merlene Ellis; composer, musician and columnist Dave Martins; and Kathleen Thompson-Henriquo, artist and Director of Studies, Burrowes School of Art, who read the Judges’ Report on behalf of her colleagues.
The exhibition of competition entries continues at the National Gallery from Friday 22nd October to Saturday 13th November next.
Gallery hours are 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 2 to 6pm on Saturday; the gallery is closed on Sundays and holidays.