We are excited to share that Dean Bowen has been selected for the John Leslie Art Prize 2026 for his brilliant work White Forest with Echidna Family.
Now an internationally acclaimed artist, Bowen has spent decades maintaining the highest levels of studio practice. His mastery of techniques, along with a powerful use of colour and meaningful choice of imagery, invests his processes and materials with qualities that capture the viewer’s attention while stimulating the imagination. He takes inanimate materials and brings them alive. It is this spirit of life, or anima mundi, that is the essence of Bowen’s art, as it has been to varying degrees in the notable art of most cultures dating back to deep antiquity. - Jenny Zimmer, Arts Writer, 2025
One of Australia’s most prestigious prizes for landscape painting, the John Leslie Art Prize consistently attracts the highest calibre of artists from all corners of Australia. Named after the Gallery’s Patron and—in many ways the Gallery’s Founder—John Leslie OBE (1919–2016), the continuation of this highly sought $30,000 acquisitive prize is made possible through the generous ongoing support of the Gippsland Art Gallery Foundation.
The John Leslie Art Prize opens at Gippsland Art Gallery September 5 - November 22, 2026.
