Sculpture by The Sea had a further sense of urgency about it this year as it was quite possibly the last time it would be held at its current Bondi to Tamarama site.
Waverley Council and founding director David Handley are locked in a battle over the installation of a disability path in Marks Park.
As a result it appears that this may be the last time that Sculpture by the Sea, in its 23rd year, will be held in the Waverley Municipality area. If this occurs it will be a big blow to the businesses in the local area who rely on Sculpture by the Sea for a financial boost before Christmas.
Due to the liberation of Czechoslovakia from the tyrannical grip of the Soviet Union, ten Czech and Slovak artists were featured in the exhibition. Overall one hundred and forty artists from eighteen countries created the one hundred and eleven sculptures which attract hundreds of thousands of people each year.
The past few years have had an air of predictability, in that the winning sculpture is of an abstract nature whilst the People’s Choice award is of a sometime humorous and realistic nature.
This year’s winner is Morgan Jones for his corten steel sculpture ‘The Sun Also Rises’.
The prize for the winning sculpture is $70,000 and the prize for the People’s Choice award is $5000.
Judged by the number of people crowding around the sculptures, when accessible, Joel Adler’s sculpture ‘Viewfinder’ which acted as a periscope to the waves crashing below, Geraldo Zamproni’s red pencil entitled ‘More Than It Seems’, Viktor Freso’s ‘Angry Boy’ and Wang Kaifang’s ‘The Statue of Mad Liberty’ seemed to capture the public’s imagination.
Since 2013 the winning sculpture has been installed in Headland Park at Georges Heights. Previous to this winners have been gifted to the Campbelltown Arts Centre, the Orange Regional Gallery and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
I hope to attend next year’s Sculpture By The Sea if it is held in Sydney (there are threats that it may go interstate) but where it will take place is anybody’s guess.
All pics by Ben Apfelbaum (c)
