Julie Rrap has been named the winner of the 2009 University of Queensland National Artists' Self-Portrait Prize.
Judge Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, said that her entry, 360° self portrait, was the outstanding work in a strong field of 34 entrants.
"Julie Rrap's entry is an ambitious and ambiguous piece. The viewer is drawn in by the emotional drama, as the morphing face appears to reflect some inner turmoil or react to something beyond the camera. In reality, the changes are the result of centrifugal force as the artist spins through 360°, the title of the work," Ms Macgregor said.
Julie Rrap, one of Australia's most prominent artists, works in the areas of photography, video, sculpture and installation.
Vying for the $50,000 acquisitive award were established and emerging Australian artists from across the country and even the Torres Strait.
The self-portrait prize complements the University's special collection of self-portraits, the only one of its kind in the country.
"Entry to this biennial award is by invitation only, and we were delighted by the high standard of works that artists submitted in 2009," UQ Art Museum director Nick Mitzevich said.
"Artists have employed a diverse range of media in representing themselves, and while some artists adopted relatively traditional approaches towards the self-portrait, others have been quite playful or surprising in how they have chosen to represent themselves."
The National Artists' Self-Portrait Prize 2009 will be on show at the UQ Art Museum, St Lucia, from November 28 to January 24. Admission is free, with the museum open daily 10am–4pm. Parking is free on weekends.
Media: Nick Mitzevich at the UQ Art Museum (0434 361 383, 3365 3046, n.mitzevich@uq.edu.au) or Cameron Pegg at UQ Communications (07 3365 2049, c.pegg@uq.edu.au)
** High resolution images of the winning work and other entries are available for download here
Winning artist's biography
Born in Lismore, Australia in 1950, Julie Rrap currently lives and works in Sydney. She has an extensive exhibition history dating back to the early 1980s. Julie Rrap is represented by Arc One Gallery in Melbourne and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Sydney. Recent solo exhibitions at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery include Soft Targets in 2004 and Fall Out, 2006. Rrap's work has been featured in major Australian and international exhibitions including: Australian Perspecta, Sydney, 1983, 1985 and 1987; the Biennale of Sydney, 1986, 1988 and 1992; and Fieldwork: Australian Art 1968 - 2002, National Gallery of Victoria, 2002. Other group exhibitions include: Turbulence: The Third Auckland Triennial, New Zealand, 2007; Girls, Girls, Girls: Images of Femininity from the Banyule Art Collection, Bendigo Art Gallery, 2005; and National Sculpture Prize 2003, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Public art projects have included the installation Fleshstones at Republic Tower, Melbourne 2003; and Overstepping, billboard project at Hero apartments, Melbourne, 2002. In 2001, Rrap was awarded winner of Hermann's Art Award for Overstepping and was awarded a Fellowship Grant from the Australia Council for the Arts. Monograph publications include Julie Rrap: Body Double, curator Victoria Lynn's book to coincide with the MCA exhibition (co-published by Piper Press and the MCA) and Julie Rrap, also a Piper Press publication (1998).
