Take on shark culling wins art prize

Victorian artist Richard Lewer has taken out the $25,000 major acquisitive prize at the opening of the coveted City of Albany art prize.

Lewer used oil on epoxy-coated steel to create his untitled piece, which depicts a shark hanging by its tail, a response to the WA Government's controversial shark culling program.

Judges Leigh Robb of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and Meryl Ryan, curator of the Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, said this year's entries were of a very high standard, but were drawn to Lewer's "dark but instantly iconic painting".

"We decided with the winning work that we were ultimately trying to define it by a work which was both timeless and of its time," Robb said.

The $2500 commendation award went to Jurek Wybraniec's Gone (Scene1).

The exhibition is open until October 11 at the Carol Pettersen Hall inside the Albany Town Hall.