2015 Portia Geach Memorial Finalists
Fifty-five finalists have been announced this week for the Portia Geach Memorial Award. This year the portrait prize celebrates its 50th anniversary, marking a critical milestone for the Award’s role in recognising and supporting a strong culture of female artists.
With over 295 entries this year, the ongoing popularity of the award only speaks of its relevance and importance as a platform from which emerging and established female artists can project their practice.
The impressive list of artists are all in line for the $30,000 annual award. To see the full list of finalists click here.
On behalf of the judging panel, Jane Watters, Director S.H. Ervin Gallery said: “The judges were delighted with the number of submissions and the diversity of approaches in this year’s award.
The judging panel for this year’s award comprised Publisher and Trustee of Art Gallery of New South Wales, Eleonora Triguboff, Trustee of Art Gallery of New South Wales, Samantha Meers and Director S.H Ervin Gallery, Jane Watters,
Jane Watters, Director S.H. Ervin Gallery commented on this year’s entrants, stating, “The judges were delighted with the number of submissions and the diversity of approaches in this year’s award.”
“We were particularly pleased with the independence of vision drawing upon wide ranges of personal imagery that reflect influences from both historical and contemporary art. We trust that the selection recognises the commitment of Australian female artists and reflects the innovation in contemporary portraiture.”
Always intriguing are the sitters included in the Award each year. Well-known subjects this year include Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty, singer Katie Noonan, comedian Judith Lucy, writer Marieke Hardy, ABC broadcaster James Valentine and former politician Barry Jones.
The winner of the 2015 Portia Geach Memorial Award will be revealed on 17 September with an exhibition of all finalists open for viewing by the public at the S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks from 18 September to 25 October 2015.
EXHIBITION
Portia Geach Memorial Award 2015
18 September – 25 October 2015
S.H. Ervin Gallery
Image: 2008 winner Jude Rae, Self Portriat 2008 (the year my husband left), 2008, acrylic and oil on canvas, 153 x 198cm
Courtesy the artist and S.H. Ervin Gallery
Genuine reflection, the quiet, unresolved, sometimes uncomfortable kind, feels increasingly rare. We are seldom invited to sit with what we do not yet understand. This...
As the title Westwood | Kawakubo suggests, the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) latest fashion exhibition plays to the idea that these two titans of...
Operating within a commercial framework yet not representing artists, Project8 allows for a greater sense of curatorial freedom, privileging thematic and carefully considered exhibitions over...
Ron Mueck’s shockingly alive sculptures hit us at many points along the pathway from birth to death. But it’s more than just mortal decay that...
Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light draws on more than 300 photographs and photomedia from the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) collection and the...
Motet Fail, 2026, reshapes Artist Run Initiative, West Space into an immersive backgammon board that operates as a site of reflection, encounter, and quiet concert....
Carvings have been made for all time by Aurukun men. However, the more recent innovation to emerge from Aurukun are paintings. Vested in Country and...
A stone’s throw from the Illawarra escarpment at Campbelltown Arts Centre, the introduction to Draper’s ecosphere is a gathering of rainbow forms which, as an...
In 1991, Maurice and Katia Krafft died during the Mount Unzen eruption on Japan’s island of Kyushu. Herzog’s documentary does meditate on their deaths and...