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.
Two non-acquisitive Highly Commended Prizes of $1 000 each may also be awarded, at the judges’ discretion.
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.
2012 City of Albany Art Prize
2012 Winner
Helen Smith from Western Australia won the 2012 City of Albany Art Prize with her oil painting Arc Drawing #3. (Download)
Smith’s practice is influenced by a formal minimalist view-point, with simplicity of form and technical processes determining the outcome. In Arc drawing #3, by manipulating the grid, a larger image is squeezed into the required space.
Since graduating from Curtin University with an Honours degree in Art, Helen Smith has exhibited work both nationally and internationally, with solo shows in Perth, Sydney and Amsterdam. Her minimal large-scale paintings and photographic works are included in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Daimler-Chrysler Foundation – Berlin, Australian Embassy – Madrid, as well as various private collections.
Represented by Goddard de Fiddes Gallery, Perth.
Highly Commended Award Winners
The winners of the $1 000 Highly Commended Awards are Beth Kirkland, from WA, for her oil painting, Butterfly on Broadway, and Zai Kuang, from Victoria, for his oil painting Bathroom Mirror.
2012 Judging Panel
The judges were Jane Alexander, Director, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria; Jenepher Duncan, Curator of Contemporary Australian Art, Art Gallery of Western Australia; and Chris Malcolm, Director, John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University, Western Australia.
Click here to download the exhibition catalogue.
Art Prize Conditions
The 2012 Art Prize Conditions are provided here for information only.
Download 2012 Conditions (PDF)
2011 City of Albany Art Prize
2011 Winner
Ron Nyisztor from WA won the 2011 City of Albany Art Prize with his oil painting Who is my neighbour.
The artist’s statement is:
“In this painting common breeze blocks are elevated across two recycled ply board panels. These architecturally designed features are chosen as subjects as they are familiar characteristics of urbanisation. The original purpose for creating security and privacy between dwellings is contrasted with an atmosphere of isolation and detachment. The ideas inherent to this work are about contemporary life, its unprecedented means for unity and correlation and the reality of being separated and at odds.”
Ron Nyisztor studied Design at Perth Technical College 1975 and Design at Curtin 1979. He has held 21 solo shows and participated in many group shows with works held in numerous collections. He works in a studio which is part of an abandoned library in Melville, Perth, where he runs an independent arts exhibition space.
Highly Commended Award Winners
The winners of the $1 000 Highly Commended Awards were Tom Freeman, from WA, for his acrylic and pencil work, Boulder found 30ft up, and Amelda Read-Forsythe, from Victoria, for her oil painting From the Ground.
2011 Judging Panel
The judges were Amy Barrett-Lennard, Director of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts; Belinda Cobby, Curator, City of Perth; and John McPhee, an art consultant from Sydney with extensive experience with national and corporate art collections.
Click here to download the exhibition catalogue.
2010 City of Albany Art Prize
2010 Winner
Kate Bergin, from Bendigo, Victoria, won the 2010 City of Albany Art Prize with her painting Call of the Highly Improbable.
Kate Bergin has been painting and exhibiting since graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1992. Her work is held in many collections including the Art Gallery of NSW (gifted by Margaret Olley), Artbank, Brisbane City Hall, Port Phillip Collection and the Victorian College of the Arts. She is represented by Mossgreen Gallery in Victoria and Hill-Smith Gallery in South Australia.
Highly Commended Award Winners
Two Highly Commended prizes of $1 000 were awarded to Stephanie Tabram, from Tasmania, for her acrylic painting Departure and Annika Koops, from Melbourne, for her oil painting Starcraft No 1.
2010 Judging Panel
The judging panel comprised Dr Stefano Carboni, Director, Art Gallery of Western Australia; Margaret Moore, Program Manager, Visual Arts, Perth International Arts Festival, and Jason Smith, Director, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Victoria.
Click here to view the exhibition catalogue.
2009 City of Albany Art Prize
2009 Winner
Western Australian artist Indra Geidans 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.
Each artist won $1000 provided by The Jack Family Charitable Trust.
The 2009 judges were Professor Ted Snell AM CitWA, Director of the University of Western Australia’s Cultural Precinct; Fiona Kalaf, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Art Gallery of Western Australia; and Mark Van Veen, Assistant Director, Exhibitions and Curatorial, at ACT Museums and Galleries, Canberra.
Click here to view the Exhibition Catalogue.
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.
Since 2009, 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 Vancouver Arts 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 2012 City of Albany Art Prize
Email: artprize@albany.wa.gov.au
