The University of Queensland Art Museum has invited 39 contemporary artists from across Australia to participate in the University’s fourth biennial National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize.
The $50,000 prize is one of the most generous in Australia and will focus on the prevalence of the self-image in today’s networked age.
UQ Art Museum Director Dr Campbell Gray said the Prize is entered by invitation only, with the winning work acquired for the UQ Art Collection.
“The self-image is a pervasive feature of social media and reality television in everyday life,” Dr Gray said.
“The phenomenon has created an audience primed to consume personal information.”
UQ Art Museum Curator and the curator of this year’s Prize Samantha Littley said the invited artists had been asked to consider how the self-image is constructed and received in contemporary culture, with the theme for this year’s Prize being remix. post. connect.
“Whether artists today operate from a digital platform or not, their self-portraits are likely to be understood within this broader social context,” Ms Littley said.
This year’s judge is Museum of Contemporary Art Australia’s Assistant Director, Curatorial and Digital, Blair French.
“Blair has recently joined the Museum of Contemporary Art after seven years as Executive Director of Artspace Visual Arts Centre in Sydney,” Dr Gray said.
“Prior to that he was Program Manager at the Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, and Associate Director at Performance Space, Sydney.
“Blair is the ideal judge for this year’s Prize, with his wealth of curatorial experience and knowledge of contemporary art,” Dr Gray said.
The winner of The University of Queensland National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize 2013 will be announced on 18 October.
Previous winners include Ben Quilty (2007), Julie Rrap (2009) and Domenico de Clario (2011).
Artists in the running for The University of Queensland National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize 2013:
Chris Bennie (Qld), Natasha Bieniek (Vic), Jane Burton (Vic), Thea Costantino (WA), Paula Do Prado (Vic), James Dodd (SA), Adrienne Doig (NSW), Yavuz Erkan (Qld/ Istanbul), Fiona Foley (Qld), Katherine Griffiths (ACT), David Griggs (NSW/ Philippines), Brent Harris (Vic), Petrina Hicks (NSW), Anastasia Klose (Vic), Michael Lindeman (NSW), Jess MacNeil (NSW), Jennifer Mills (Vic), Kate Mitchell (NSW), Archie Moore (Qld), Nell (NSW), James Newitt (TAS), Shaun O’Connor (Qld), Tom O’Hern (Tas), Ryan Presley (Qld), Eugenia Raskopoulos (NSW), Victoria Reichelt (Qld), Tobias Richardson (NT/ NSW), Stuart Ringholt (Vic), David Rosetzky (Vic), Khaled Sabsabi (NSW), Yhonnie Scarce (SA/ Vic), Nalda Searles (WA), Alexander Seton (NSW), Sancintya Simpson (Qld), Jacqui Stockdale (Tas), Darren Sylvester (Vic), TextaQueen (Vic), David M Thomas (Qld), Min Wong (NT).
Where: UQ Art Museum, University Drive, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus.
When: Open daily, 10am–4pm. Closed during summer recess, 22 December 2012–6 January 2013.
Media Enquiries: UQ Art Museum Curator Samantha Littley, 07 3346 8782, s.littley@uq.edu.au. UQ Art Museum Associate Director (Curatorial) Michele Helmrich, 07 3346 8759, 0418 754 983, m.helmrich@uq.edu.au. UQ Art Museum Digital Communications Officer Sebastian Moody (Monday to Thursday only), 07 3346 8761, 0419 789 006, s.moody@uq.edu.au.
