Waverley Art Prize 2022: Finalists

Chris Bond, Jo Plank, Joel Arthur

25 Sep - 15 Oct 2022

Waverley Art Prize 2022

Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Sydney NSW

23 September – 15 October 2022

Chris Bond, Jo Plank, and Joel Arthur have been selected as finalists in the 2022 Waverley Art Prize.

Chris Bond was selected for his work Maldoror, 2021, oil on linen, paper, 40 x 25 x 3cm

I first picked up the controversial proto-surrealist novel Maldoror at the suggestion of a teacher more than twenty years ago. Reading it felt forbidden and potentially dangerous, and I remember feeling uncertain as to whether I should relish or be repulsed by its lurid and grotesque subject matter. Having recently returned to the novel, I can’t help but see a younger version of myself reflected in mirror, with a skin now cracked and stained, a tremulous hand cautiously lifting the lid of the coffin, equally appalled and attracted to the evil of the human condition.

-Chris Bond, 2022

Jo Plank was selected for her work ‘I Don’t Need You I Want You I Choose You, 2021, Ink on Archival Paper, 79 x 59.5cm

This artwork represents a time in the artists’ life when intense feelings needed wrangling. Feelings of unrequited love, of simply being in love. A poetic glimpse into an otherwise private moment. The finite properties of the paper, despite its vast scale, serves as a boundary to what might otherwise feel infinite. Repetition allows for a meditative form of closure. A chance to move on. Laying bare the residue of personal trauma she stumbles across the act of letting go. She invites you to feel privy to something very personal. A beautiful poignant and intense moment in the artists’ life.

-Jo Plank, 2022