Otomys is thrilled to announce the winner of the 2022 Richard Leslie Prize – Greg Wood!
Wood’s winning work V34 Reimagining, oil on linen, is a deep and contemplative work. The judging panel, which included Gippsland Art Gallery Director Simon Gregg, Dr Sheridan Palmer, and associate curator Melanie Caple, were impressed by the painting’s immersive quality. Conjuring thoughts of Turner, V34 Reimagining possesses a drama that captures both the beauty and emotion of a visceral landscape.
Inaugurated in 2000, The John Leslie Prize is one of Australia’s most prestigious awards for landscape painting. Previously open to artists living or working in the greater Gippsland region, the Prize was recently opened to all Australian artists, ushering in a wave of competitive entries. This year over 450 entries were received, with 80 works selected as finalists.
Wood’s painting will become a part of the Gippsland Art Gallery’s permanent collection. An exhibition of finalists including Greg’s winning work will be on display at Gippsland Art Gallery until 27 November 2022.
About the artist
Greg Wood’s misty and ethereal landscape paintings so poignantly convey sensations of loss, longing and transcendence. Informed by both real placed and his memories, Wood’s intuitive approach to painting has led to the creation of peaceful, contemplative and at times brooding atmospheres.
Painting since the mid-90s, Wood has travelled extensively abroad in search of inspiration for his paintings. Prior to his success in the John Leslie Prize, Wood’s work has been included in several important Australian award exhibitions including the Glover prize, Tattersalls Landscape Art Prize, and the Kate Derum Award. His work is also included in a variety pf prestigious private and public collections, such as the Joyce Nissan and Peter Mac art collections.
In 2011, Wood was also featured in New Romantics: Darkness and Light, a seminal publication by Simon Gregg which surveyed the dynasties of romantic art from its beginnings in Europe to its rebirth in contemporary Australia. Gregg had the following to say about Greg Wood’s highly revered artworks: “Greg Wood is concerned with the void above the earth. His visceral approach heightens the sense of insubstantiality, and the immaterial. Like all his works, painting shows no evidence of human habitation – we might be observing a primeval scene where humans have yet to evolve.”
Explore more about Greg Wood here.
September 14, 2022
