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Organized by:

City of Fabriano - UNESCO Creative City

Paper and Watermark Museum

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The jury was unanimous in voting the following three artist for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes :

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1st Prize: Joseph Zbukvic (Australia)

Painting: ‘Quiet Corner, Venice’

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2nd Prize: Boonkwang Noncharoen (Tailand)

Painting: ‘The Light’

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3rd Prize: Ian Grant (Australia)

Painting: ‘Celebrity’

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At the present and online meeting, the jurors all expressed admiration for the winning paintings both

as demonstrations of masterful watercolour painting and as expressive images.

All of them using strong tone and careful composition to create drama and emotion, they are paintings of

substance, sensitivity, weight, warmth and intrigue. Evidence of dedicated personal journeys in search of

unique ‘visual voices.’ Seeing these images leaves us wanting more!

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Joseph Zbukvic: Quiet Corner, Venice

Quiet Corner, Venice, can be described as being instantly recognisable as a painting by master artist Joseph

Zbukvic. His vision and contribution to the world of watercolour cannot be underestimated.Joseph has an

incredible skill for getting to the essence of his subject in an extraordinary precise but atmospheric way. Quiet

Corner, Venice is full of atmosphere where the dance of light across the water and boats lead you in to a

beautifully soft focus building where there is a suggestion of detail in the sky and buildings created by a deft

fick of the brush. A master painter at work.

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Boonkwang Nancharoen: The Light

Tis is an incredible painting full of life and energy. In this painting of an elderly woman emptying a

container full of water, we are led from the woman's gaze towards the basin containing water. Te water has

been described superbly with just a thin wash of tone. His use of calligraphic marks on the woman's shirt is

echoed quietly in the dark areas around the subject suggesting texture with brevity and bravado. A lovely

sense of pictorial depth has been created using atmospheric perspective in beautiful understated manner. A

worthy prize winner.

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Ian Grant: Celebrity

Ian has created a masterpiece in a subtle and unpretentious way. Tis painting has to be seen in the fesh to

really understand the incredibly delicate manner in which he has created this beautiful image. Capturing the

sense of celebrity in an accomplished but deceptively simple painting using watercolour is a very difcult

thing to do but he has managed this with panache.

Special Mentions were also made of the next twelve artist receiving a high number of votes:

 

Kathleen Giles, USA

Lana Privitera, USA

Anna Berezovskaya, Russia

Lai Young-Lin, Taiwan

Hong Shan, China

Silvia De Bastiani, Italy

Eugen Gorean, Moldova

Irina Pavlova, Russia

Prafull Sawant, India

Fausta D'Ubaldo, Italia

Michael Solovyev, Canada

Andy Evansen, USA

Jan Min, Netherland

 

Jury members were keen to say that, though not receiving the highest number of votes, Artists created

compelling and engaging paintings challenging, elusive, abstract appealed to diferent Jurors and fxed

themselves in their minds.

In this exhibition we see the works of numerous artists widely known and respected at home and abroad.

Te Fabriano Watercolour Biennale also aims to provide a platform for deserving new and young artists to

become known in the international watercolour community.

Artists working in all media including oil painters, sculptors and designers designers, in addition to those

identifed as ‘watercolourists’, are active in using watercolour paint while pushing the boundaries of

contemporary art, and it is these people that coming editions of Te Fabriano Biennale aims to encourage.

Te jurors were concerned that the Fabriano Biennale should refect all modes of current watercolour

expression.

A big thank you to all the invited artists and jurors for agreeing to take part in this, Te 7th Edition of the

Biennial International Prize “Fabriano Watercolour 2022”, despite the complications associated with the

Covid pandemic, and to Giorgio and his team especially for making it happen.

 

Angus McEwan  RSW RWS AWI

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