Welcome to theCity of Albany Art Prize website
The City of Albany Art Prize is an annual acquisitive prize open to all Australian artists for a two dimensional painting.
With a first prize of $25 000, The City of Albany Art Prize aims to attract entries from artists of excellence from throughout Australia.
As well as this major cash prize, the winner will have the opportunity to spend up to four weeks in a self-contained studio cottage, at the Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany, with $2500 for associated expenses.
Artworks entered into this art prize are to be substantially painted, meaning that other media such as those used in drawing (for example, pencil and charcoal), printmaking and collage can be included, but only if paint remains the dominant medium.
The artwork must be able to be hung (pinning or another method of direct attachment to the wall is not acceptable).
Photography and sculpture are not accepted.
This prize is proudly sponsored by The Jack Family Charitable Trust and presented by the City of Albany. The winning artwork will become part of the City of Albany Art Collection.
2009 City of Albany Art Prize
2009 Winner
Western Australian artist Indra Geidans has won the 2009 City of Albany Art Prize with her oil painting Threshold.
Indra’s statement is:
“This painting stems from a series of works that reference the human condition. This painting shows a women appearing to balance on the edge of two spaces. One space holds the safety of familiar stable territory, the other space is unknown, hypothetical and full of doubt and fear.”
Indra Geidans completed a visual arts degree from Curtin University in 1985. Since then she has had 11 solo exhibitions in Perth, Melbourne, Germany and Latvija. She is represented in many collections including the Art Gallery of WA and the Federal Law Courts of Australia. She has recently moved from Perth to reside permanently in the Albany region.
Indra is represented by Brigitte Braun Gallery, Melbourne and Turner Galleries, Perth.
Click here to view the winning painting.
Highly Commended Artists
The judges made two Highly Commended Awards to:
- Felicity Sivewright, WA, for Regrowth
- Genevieve Kemarr Loy, NT, for Bush Turkey Story.
These two artists will each receive $1000 provided by The Jack Family Charitable Trust.
The Judges’ Selection
Entries for the 2009 City of Albany Art Prize closed on December 12, 2008.
308 entries were received from throughout Australia.
Three judges viewed the digital image of each entry and selected thirty paintings for the finalists’ exhibition.
The shortlisted artists and their paintings are:
| Name | State | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Ahad, Farhana | QLD | Ocular Artifice 1, polymer on canvas |
| Bai, Xiao Yu | VIC | Lake #3, oil on canvas |
| Bannatee, Warayute | WA | The Mobile Man, oil |
| Boag, Yvonne | NSW | Living Together No. 3, acrylic on canvas |
| De la Hunty, Moira | WA | Thrushcross Grange (Go), oil on canvas |
| Duddles, Jim | WA | Default Country, acrylic on canvas |
| Forthun, Louise | VIC | High Altitude, oil on linen |
| Geidans, Indra | WA | Threshold, oil on canvas |
| Grant, Ian | NSW | Blue Sky West , acrylic on linen |
| Heine, Martin | WA | Twilight, oil and acrylic paint on synthetic polymer |
| Jansen, Leith | WA | Cool cuts, oil on canvas |
| Kelly, David | SA | Essence of Eucalypt 3, oil and acrylic on board |
| Kemarre, Gladdy | NT | Bush Plum, acrylic on linen |
| Kirkland, Beth | WA | Violet Schism, oil on tinted gesso on canvas |
| Loongkoonan | WA | Bushtucker in Nyikina Country, acrylic on linen |
| Loy, Genevieve | NT | Bush Tucker Story #2, synthetic polymer on linen |
| Munro, Lesley | WA | Conversations While Driving, acrylic on canvas |
| Nedela, Janis | WA | Ephemera-Codes, acrylic on canvas |
| Nyisztor, Ron | WA | Basic, oil on board |
| Petyarre, Josie Kunoth | NT | Hunting, acrylic on linen |
| Punshon, Siobhan | VIC | City Walk, acrylic on linen |
| Pwerl, Cowboy Loy | NT | Bush Turkey Dreaming, synthetic polymer on linen |
| Sivewright, Felicity | WA | Regrowth, acrylic on board |
| Smith, Gary | ACT | Ice Sky II, acrylic on canvas |
| Stewart, Angela | WA | Furore, oil on board |
| Truscott, Daniel | VIC | Caught in the Past, oil on canvas |
| Ward, Lucy | WA | Sugarbag Story, acrylic on linen |
| Wassi, Peggy | WA | Marroowan and Jaraji, acrylic on linen |
| Wild, Nicholas | WA | Near the Harbour, oil on canvas |
| Windberg, Tony | WA | Decomposition, oil on canvas |
The judges viewed these paintings at the finalists’ exhibition at the Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany, WA, and selected the winning painting. The winner was announced at the exhibition opening on Friday April 3, 2009.
The 2009 City of Albany Art Prize finalists’ exhibition is on from April 4 to 27, 2009.
Click here to view the Exhibition Catalogue.
The 2009 Judges
Professor Ted Snell AM CitWA, is the Director of the University of Western Australia’s Cultural Precinct. Prior to this recent appointment, Ted was Professor of Contemporary Art and Dean of Art, John Curtin Centre, Curtin University of Technology, where he was responsible for the John Curtin Gallery. Ted is currently Chair of the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council.
Mark Van Veen has thirty years experience employed in art museums, tertiary institutions and commercial galleries in Canada and Australia. He worked at the National Gallery of Australia for 11 years and is currently employed as Assistant Director, Exhibitions and Curatorial with ACT Museums and Galleries.
Fiona Kalaf is Deputy Chair of the Board of the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Fiona has held senior executive positions in commercial, corporate and not-for-profit organisations. Her background with art collections includes managing Wesfarmers renowned art collection, where she developed the award-winning Wesfarmers Arts sponsorships program.
2010 City of Albany Art Prize
The Conditions and Entry Form for the 2010 City of Albany Art Prize will be available from this website in late July 2009.
The 2009 Conditions are provided here for information only. Please obtain the 2010 Conditions and Entry Form when available.
2008 City of Albany Art Prize
2008 Winner
Rachael Hooper won the 2008 City of Albany Art Prize with her painting Bird in the Night, oil on board, 120 x 90 cm. Click here to download image.
Rachael Hooper lives in Melbourne and works at the Parslow Street Studios, Clifton Hill. She has a Bachelor of Visual Arts and has exhibited in artist-run spaces and galleries in Melbourne and Darwin.
The judges commented that, in her painting, Rachael Hooper has created a self-contained world in which she explored a range of dualities – darkness/lightness; sleep/awake, perching/suspended; shade/illumination. It is a painting which on first appearances is quiet and unassuming, yet is intriguing and draws the viewer back again and again. The judges commended the artist on her skillful and sensitive use of the medium and congratulated her on creating an absorbing work.
The 2008 Art Prize judges were John Barrett-Lennard, Director of the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia, Helen Carroll, Manager, Wesfarmers Arts and Curator, Wesfarmers Art Collection, and Kelly Gellatly, Curator, Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria.
Click here to view the catalogue of the Exhibition of Finalists.
Venue
Exhibition Venue and Studio Cottage
Vancouver Arts Centre, 85 Vancouver St, Albany.Go to www.albany.wa.gov.au to find out more about the venue.
Click on the photos below to view the self-contained studio cottage and the stunning view from the verandah!
Background
Albany artlovers have enjoyed viewing an annual art prize for many decades. In 1963, radio station 6VA initiated an annual art prize. In 1969 the Town of Albany took on the role of co- ordinating and presenting this prize. The winning artwork was acquired for the Town’s art collection. This art prize has continued each year and attracts hundreds of entries in a wide range of media.
In 2007 The Jack Family Charitable Trust of Albany offered to provide major prize money to attract high quality paintings by artists of excellence throughout Australia.
The City of Albany accepted this offer and, in 2008, presented the City of Albany Art Prize with a new national focus and a $25 000 major prize.
For the 2009 Art Prize, the prize has been further enhanced with the winner having the opportunity to spend four weeks in scenic Albany. The accommodation is courtesy of the City of Albany, with $2 500 for associated expenses kindly provided by The Jack Family Charitable Trust.
Albany’s long running art prize, now known as the Centennial Art Prize, continues to be presented at Centennial Hall, Albany Showgrounds.
Visit Albany
Visit Albany to view this major exhibition and discover the culture, history and natural wonders of Albany and surrounds.
Contact
Co-ordinator of the 2009 City of Albany Art Prize
Email: artprize@albany.wa.gov.au