Council is delighted to announce the KALOF People’s Choice Award winner from the Out Front 2025 exhibition. Congratulations to Steven Curtis from Oxford Falls Grammar for his captivating work, Artistic Innovation or Invasion?.
Now in its 31st year, Out Front 2025 exhibition at Manly Art Gallery & Museum featured 25 selected HSC artistic works from 21 schools across the Northern Beaches.
Steven will receive a prize of $500, generously sponsored by Council’s youth social media @keepalookoutfor, as part of NSW Youth Week.
Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins said the successful exhibition highlighted the exceptional ability of Year 12 students from across the Northern Beaches.
“I was so impressed with the talent and maturity of the artworks in this exhibition.
“The exhibition showcased such a diverse range of artistic mediums from painting, video and sculpture to drawing, photography and ceramics. I am so in awe of their abilities and skills.
“Bravo Steven for being the people’s favourite among a remarkable group of emerging artists,” Mayor Heins said
This year over 1200 votes were cast by the public during the exhibition.
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Editor’s note:
STEVEN CURTIS (artist comments on artwork)
Artistic Innovation or Invasion?
coloured pencil drawing
Oxford Falls Grammar
My artwork is an appropriation of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. In this reimagining, ‘The Creator’ is replaced by myself, representing today’s generation of young artists captivated by the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) — a tool that is reshaping the art world and infiltrating the once-sacrosanct gallery space.
What deeply concerns me, and tempers the allure of AI’s convenience, is the legacy of historic greats like Michelangelo, Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo, and Van Gogh. Their iconic works, forged through lifetimes of artistic development, can now be stylistically replicated and mass-produced by AI in mere seconds. With the unprecedented temptations that AI offers, today’s young artists must grapple with the cost of surrendering the proverbial paintbrush to a machine. Ultimately, art is more than just aesthetics; it is the artist behind it who truly matters.