The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize are on show at Hazelhurst regional gallery and arts centre at Gymea.
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To celebrate all things art, Hazelhurst at Night is an event held to showcase the Moran Portrait prizes and the good art, music and food that Hazelhurst is renowned for.
Live portrait sketching by Jiawei Shen who is one of Australia’s leading portrait artists was on centre stage where he showed onlookers first-hand how he works painting Leader photographer John Veage’s portrait.
In classic Moran Portrait style, an artist painting a photographer fitted both categories.
The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize is the richest award for excellence in portrait painting in Australia with an annual first prize of $150,000.
Following the exhibition of the 2015 Prize finalists at Juniper Hall in Paddington (October 2015) the Moran Art Foundation is touring the exhibition to regional galleries in 2016 beginning with Hazelhurst.
Founded by Doug and Greta Moran and family in 1988, and now in its 28th year, the prize is an annual event aimed at encouraging the development of the portraiture skills of Australian artists and increasing the awareness and appreciation of Australian visual arts.
Artists must interpret the look and personality of a chosen sitter, either unknown or well known. The exhibition includes prize winning portraits by 30 Australian artists featuring sitters Robyn Nevin, Kirk Pengilly, Edmund Capon and Euan Macleod.
The Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize, established in 2007, is a national competition that awards and promotes Australian contemporary photography.
The MCPP invited photographers to interpret ‘’contemporary life in Australia” with an emphasis on Australians going about their day-to-day life.
The aim is to encourage the production of photographs taken in Australia, by Australians, that reflect the multiculturalism and uniqueness of Australian life.
The exhibition features the works of 30 photographers including this year’s winner, Trent Mitchell, for his photo Boy in Boat, Hervey Bay Qld 2015.
