AUCKLAND.- Peter Robinson has won the 2008 Walters Prize – New Zealand’s richest and most prestigious contemporary art award.

The Auckland-based artist wins $50,000 and an all expenses paid trip to New York with the opportunity to exhibit his work at Saatchi & Saatchi’s world headquarters.

International judge Catherine David says Peter's work showed a sophisticated understanding of modernist principles, applied in a critical way to produce art that could be shown in Paris or New York and not lose its resonances.

“ACK is multi-layered, engaging and universal. It is clearly the work of an artist at the peak of his career.”

An independent jury of critics and curators selected the four finalists: Edith Amituanai, Lisa Reihana, John Reynolds and Peter Robinson. Each has received $5,000 thanks to patron Dayle Mace.

Auckland Art Gallery director Chris Saines says, “The Walters Prize set out to focus on contemporary work, but unconditionally celebrates the contemporary artist. Eight years and four prizes on, the artists who have participated in the prize are, without exception, continuing to push forward and to exert uncommon influence on contemporary New Zealand art. It has proven itself a reliable core sampler of some of our best and most enduring new work.”

The biennial prize, named after pioneering modernist painter Gordon Walters, was established in 2002 with the support of founding benefactors Erika and Robin Congreve and Jenny Gibbs.

Previous winners were Yvonne Todd in 2002 for Asthma and Eczema, the et al. collective in 2004 for restricted access and Francis Upritchard in 2006 for Doomed, Doomed, All Doomed.