Speech by
Cherry Hood
Judge at the Kedumba Drawing Award 2007

Thank you, Jeffrey.
Yes, I am indeed very passionate about art and very honoured to be asked to judge the Kedumba Drawing Award for 2007. It is a very difficult job, which has taken three days to decide which drawings I would select. As you know the works are chosen to be acquired for the Kedumba Collection and there is not a first, second or third. But that said I am going to tell you my third then my second and finally my first choice. Then there will be other choices by the Trustees and Director.

It is very interesting to observe that today there are many fantastic young artists who draw. They don’t paint but they present their drawings in galleries as their major work.

There is also the fine line between a painting and a drawing and you question what’s what when you see court cases [for example] the Archibald last year as well as arguments about whether drawings that are coloured are drawings and should paint be used as drawing material. There are so many convoluted ways of making art that we really should reject all these demarcations.

Some of the artists participating here in this exhibition don’t use drawing as a preliminary to painting or just a doodle. They use drawing to make their art and that’s what I find really exciting. I think all my favourite works at the moment are all drawings, which are presented as the artist’s major works.

I am not going to give you a long speech – I am not a speaker- so now I am going to tell my selections.

My third choice is the dark and mysterious work of Thomas Spence. It is a beautiful work of neighbourhoods at night with windows for peeping ‘Toms’ and us to glimpse intimate interiors including [for example] the Simpsons on television.

My second choice is Michael Zavros. Michael’s work, at the moment, is all to do with fashion and narcissism and I find it an amazing work. I really am amazed at this work – it is a departure from his usual style but really fantastic. I am not sure why he wiped out the face, whether he is being completely audacious or self ‘effacing’; it is a powerful work, which I had to select for the Kedumba Collection.

Now you will hear my first choice. This is a truly beautiful drawing. It is absolutely right up to the minute in contemporary art. It is the freshest work I’ve seen for many years. When I was in New York I saw many works that moved me and this work would not be out of place there. A baroque fantasy which I believe will be a significant addition to the Kedumba Collection. This work is by Anna Hoyle.

Congratulations to all participating artists and especially to those whose work has been selected. Thank you.