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Merit Award winner, 2021 National Contemporary Art Award, Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato
Here’s a video of NZ National Contemporary Art Award judge, Dowse Art Museum Director Karl Chitham, speaking about the four award-winning artworks. The talk about The Art of Value starts at the 11:50 mark.
John Guy Johnston
The Art of Value, 2021
83 cm x 148 cm
Acrylic paint and wax pastel on unstretched pinstripe suit material, bull clips
NZ$2,500
2021 National Contemporary Art Award, Artist Statement
It’s often said in investing circles that investing is more art than science.
This painting on pinstripe suit material is part of the artist’s current research-based art project, The Art of Value, which has necessitated the artist becoming immersed in some specific practices of advanced capitalism. The project is orientated towards analysing publicly listed businesses trading on global financial markets. To prepare for this project, and for a more secure financial future, the artist completed the intensive online Value Investing Executive Education Program through Columbia Business School, the intellectual home of value investing.
The central element of the painting is the Columbia Business School’s visual identity, a contemporary interpretation of the Hermes icon. The graphic was first adopted by the storied business school because of the Greek god Hermes’ association with trade, commerce and travel. Previously, it was incorporated into the trademarks of many mercantile guilds during the Renaissance.