BENDIGO.- Renowned Australian painter Gareth Sansom selected James Clayden’s Man in Hat with Woman flying past below as the winner of the 2022 edition of the Paul Guest Prize for contemporary drawing.

Announced on Friday at the Paul Guest Prize exhibition opening celebrations, Sansom said Clayden’s work “crept up on me. It was the first work I was drawn to when seeing the entries; I kept going back to it. For me, although it has this figurative title, it’s an abstract work, with abstract shapes juxtaposed in a very pleasing way.’

‘It’s very fresh. I just love it. I’d happily have this on my wall. It’s not a ‘trying-to-win-a-prize-work – in fact, it’s quite humble,” Sansom said.

Clayden, a Melbourne based artist, teacher and film-maker whose work is held in several public collections, received $15,000 for the winning work, which will be exhibited alongside the other forty finalists at Bendigo Art Gallery until 30 October.

The Paul Guest Prize is a non-acquisitive award and exhibition that highlights contemporary drawing practice in Australia. Held every two years, finalists are selected by Bendigo Art Gallery curators together with a guest judge from Australia’s curatorial and artistic community, and are included in an exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery.

Now in its 7th iteration, the Paul Guest Prize was initiated by The Honourable Paul Guest OAM QC, to encourage artists from across Australia to engage with the important medium of drawing in contemporary art practice. Guest is a former Family Court Judge and Olympic Rower who, in addition to his stellar career, has also nurtured a lifelong appreciation for art. Since the late 1960s he amassed a significant collection of modern and contemporary Australian paintings, drawings and sculpture which he has gifted to Bendigo Art Gallery.

This year, 41 finalists were selected for the prize, and each of the works are currently on display at Bendigo Art Gallery. Finalists include:

Gregory Alexander, Zoe Amor, Suzanne Archer, Joseph Anatolius, Jacob Bayne, Naomi Bishop, Yvonne Boag, Michelle Cawthorn, Boris Cipusev, Maryanne Coutts, James Clayden, Greg Creek, Peter Davidson, Rehgan De Mather, Stephen Eastaugh, Craig Easton, David Fairbairn, Christine Fontana, Peter Graham, Christine Healy, Mark Hetherington, Christine Hubay, Gary James, Locust Jones, Jennifer Joseph, David Keating, Peter Maloney, Jordan Marani, Terry Matassoni, Yuria Okamura, Anastasia Parmson, Kenny Pittock, Kathryn Ryan, Pip Ryan, Benedict Sibley, Fiona Somerville, Nara Walker, Adrianna Wasinka-Fabian, Rosie Weiss, Kim Westcott and Tiger Yaltangki.

Past winners of the Paul Guest Prize include Belinda Fox (2010), Tom Nicholson (2012) Heather B Swann (2014), Peter Grziwotz (2016), Laith McGregor (2018) and Richard Lewer (2020).