24 July 25 - Media Release
National law firm Holding Redlich is proud to announce landscape painter Mary Tonkin as the winner of the 27th People’s Choice Award at the 2025 Salon des Refusés: The alternative Archibald & Wynne Prize selection exhibition.
Tonkin’s winning artwork, Turmoil, Kalorama, was created at the foot of Corhanwarrabul in Victoria. The large-scale oil on linen painting features native Australian plants, including Wonga Vine (Pandorea pandorana), Forest Wire-grass (Tetrarrhena juncea) and Tall Sword-sedge (Lepidosperma elatius), dancing in a time of great turmoil in the world.
In her artist statement, Tonkin shared: “Much of the meaning and content in my work is derived from the process of being present to forms as they interlace in space over time…when our connections with each other and the natural world seemed more fragile and perversely more pertinent.”
This is Tonkin’s second People’s Choice Award, having previously won in 2022 for her piece Hot Kiss, Kalorama. A recognised artist and educator, Tonkin holds Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees from Monash University, where she has also lectured. Her work has been exhibited in Melbourne, Sydney and New York, and is held by the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery and several regional and tertiary institutions.
“We congratulate Mary on winning this year’s People’s Choice Award,” said Darren Pereira, Holding Redlich’s State Managing Partner for NSW. “Her winning artwork invites reflection and reconnection, reminding us of the quiet strength found in nature.”
“Holding Redlich has been a proud supporter of the Salon des Refusés exhibition and the People’s Choice Award for the past 27 years. The firm’s founder, Peter Redlich, was a passionate advocate for the arts, and the firm continues to honour his legacy through its long-term partnership with the National Trust’s S.H. Ervin Gallery,” added Darren.
The Salon des Refusés, initiated by the National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery in 1992, provides a platform for artworks not selected for the Archibald or Wynne Prizes. The exhibition is held annually at the S.H. Ervin Gallery in Sydney, with the winner of the People’s Choice Award determined by votes from exhibition visitors.
Photo (from left to right): S.H. Ervin Gallery Director Jane Watters, Sakia Vranken accepting the award for Holding Redlich People’s Choice Award winner Mary Tonkin and Holding Redlich’s State Managing Partner for NSW and ACT Darren Pereira, against the winning artwork, Turmoil, Kalorama.
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