AUCKLAND.-The finalists for New Zealand’s richest and most prestigious contemporary art award have been decided. The $50,000 Walters Prize, modelled on the Tate Britain’s Turner Prize, is awarded for an outstanding contribution to contemporary art in New Zealand in the past two years. Previous winners were et al. in 2004 for restricted access and Yvonne Todd in 2002 for Asthma and Eczema. Named in honour of artist Gordon Walters, the prize was established in 2002 by founding benefactors and principal donors Erika and Robin Congreve and Jenny Gibbs to make contemporary art a more widely recognised and debated feature of New Zealand cultural life.

2006 FINALISTS: Stella Brennan nominated for Wet Social Sculpture 2005, first shown at St Paul St Gallery, Auckland Phil Dadson nominated for Polar Projects 2004, first shown at Dunedin Public Art Gallery Peter Robinson nominated for The Humours 2005, first shown at Dunedin Public Art Gallery Francis Upritchard nominated for Doomed, Doomed All Doomed 2005, first shown at Artspace, Auckland. Each finalist will receive $5,000 thanks to major donor Dayle Mace. They were selected by a jury of four experts appointed by the Auckland Art Gallery.

JURY: Christina Barton - writer, curator and art history programme director at Victoria University, Wellington; Andrew Clifford - freelance writer, curator and broadcaster. A member of the Electric Biorama Spectacular, a group which has been exploring the effects of sound and light in Australasia since 1900; Wystan Curnow - writer, curator, co-director of Jar Space and English Professor at Auckland University; Heather Galbraith - senior curator and manager of curatorial programmes at City Gallery, Wellington.

INTERNATIONAL JUDGE - A mystery international judge will select the winner, to be announced at a gala dinner in late October. The winner will receive $50,000 plus an all expenses paid trip to New York to exhibit their work at Saatchi & Saatchi’s world headquarters. The judge will give a free public talk the evening following the award dinner.

Auckland Art Gallery Director Chris Saines says; “Appointing an international judge to select the Walters Prize brings the finalists’ works to the attention of one of the world’s top art commentators, and also provides the opportunity for an ongoing relationship for the New Zealand contemporary arts community”.

The 2004 Walters Prize judge, Robert Storr, is curating this year’s Venice Biennale.

JURY STATEMENT - “In deciding which artists have had the biggest impact on New Zealand art over the last two years, the 2006 Walters Prize jury left no stone unturned. At one stage there were more than 30 names on our whiteboard.

Interestingly, some of New Zealand’s most senior practitioners featured alongside emerging artists, all with fresh, vibrant projects that collectively demonstrated an impressive diversity in New Zealand’s current cultural production. After extensive deliberations, it was surprising to find that four projects had seemingly found their own way to the top of our list. Without dispute we had settled on an exceptional group of works and we unanimously agree that this exciting group of projects represent the best produced in New Zealand since the last Walters Prize.”