A New South Wales artist has been stripped of a Tasmanian art prize just days after being named the winner, following revelations the winning work had previously been exhibited.
The artist was awarded the $20,000 Bay of Fires Art Prize on June 6 for her painting ‘Secret-ish Sunsets’.
But the Bay of Fires Arts Association has since “disqualified” her after discovering the piece had been shown at a mainland gallery weeks before the competition.
In a short statement released on Wednesday, the association said the artist had “failed to meet the terms within the official conditions of entry”.
Competition rules explicitly state that entries “must not have been shown previously or entered in any exhibition or public display”, including digital or online formats and social media.
However, the artist’s own social media posts show the work was on display at a gallery in New South Wales from mid-March to early April.
There is no suggestion the artist knowingly submitted an ineligible work.
After consulting with the judging panel, the association has now awarded the prize jointly to two runners-up originally listed as “highly commended”.
They are Leigh Rigozzi for ‘Afternoon Tea Trees’ and Genevieve de Couvreur for ‘A Leap in Time’.
The exhibition, held at the Panorama Hotel in St Helens on the east coast, remains open until midday on Sunday.
