Bowness Photography Prize 2021 - call for entries
The call for entries for the annual William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize is now open, and has a closing date of 30 June. The Prize offers the winning work an award of $30,000 as well as inclusion into the Monash Gallery of Art’s nationally significant collection of Australian photographs. The Smith & Singer People’s Choice Award will be voted by the public with the recipient receiving $5,000. The annual survey of contemporary photographic practice in Australia is considered one of the most prestigious prizes in the country
“The last year has been one of turmoil, as the global pandemic began to transform all our lives. This rapid change marks a paradigm shift in the way artists live and work,” Anouska Phizacklea, MGA Gallery Director said. “The Bowness Photography Prize is an anchor to our annual programming, and this year’s prize will speak to a pivotal moment in all of our lives. How artists have chosen to respond to this shift is something that we are eagerly anticipating – as artists add their voices to our cultural record.”
“We are excited to start another season of entries for the Bowness Photography Prize. With a focus on excellence, this prize continues to highlight Australian contemporary photography,” Kallie Blauhorn, MGA Foundation Chair said. “Each year we are amazed by the calibre of creativity from both emerging and established artists and cannot wait to see what this year's prize brings. We look forward to receiving entries from photographers across the country whom, if selected, will be a part of the 2021 Bowness Photography Prize exhibition later in the year and be eligible to win our $30,000 award.”
Sotheby’s Australia People’s Choice Award.
Judging panel
The MGA Foundation has announced the judging panel will be comprised of MGA Director Anouska Phizacklea, award-winning artist Del Kathryn Barton, and Karen Quinlan AM, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Australia.
Del Kathryn Barton is a prominent Sydney-based artist who graduated from the College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales in 1993. Best known for her intricate and colourful paintings, Barton’s practice also extends across sculpture, photography, collage, installation and film. Through her works, Barton explores sexuality, motherhood and the human form, while tapping into the world of dreams and the subconscious. Barton has been exhibited nationally and internationally including a survey exhibition at NGV in 2017. In 2008 and again in 2014 Barton won the Archibald Prize. She is also represented in the MGA Collection and has twice been a finalist in the Bowness Photography Prize.
Anouska Phizacklea (BA (hons), MA, MCom, CPA, GAICD) is Director of Monash Gallery of Art (MGA). Phizacklea has expertise across the visual, decorative and literary arts as well as finance and organisational development, with Masters Degrees in both Fine Arts and Commerce. She has held senior management positions at leading Victorian public institutions, Heide Museum of Modern Art and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), and worked for many years in art research and valuations in galleries and auction houses in Melbourne and London. Since her appointment at MGA Phizacklea has curated group and single artist exhibitions with leading Australian practitioners including Allusion & Illusion: the fantastical world of Valerie Sparks (2018) and Robyn Stacey: as still as life (2018), The Tucker portraits (2020) and commissioning exhibitions Portrait of Monash: the ties that bind (2020) and STAGES: photography through the pandemic (2021).
Karen Quinlan AM has been the Director of the National Portrait Gallery since December 2018. Quinlan commenced her curatorial career in 1994 at the National Gallery of Victoria before becoming Curator of the Bendigo Art Gallery in 1996. Quinlan served as the Director of the Bendigo Art Gallery from 2000 until 2018 and was instrumental in working with international cultural institutions, attracting high profile exhibitions to regional Victoria. This initiative enabled Bendigo and the surrounding region to benefit socially, culturally and economically throughout her tenure. Before moving to the ACT, Quinlan was a Professor of Practice and Director of the La Trobe Art Institute La Trobe University; a former Trustee of the State Library of Victoria; and Board Member and former Chair of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria. Quinlan has also previously been a board member of the Victorian Foundation of Living Australian Artists, for the National Gallery of Victoria and the VA Melbourne Fashion Festival. Quinlan was recently invited to be Patron of the Capital Arts Patrons’ Organisation based in Canberra.
Follow this link for entry requirements and FAQ.
from the series, Florilegium. Pigment ink-jet print 127 x 100cm. Monash Gallery of Art,
City of Monash Collection courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid (Sydney + Berlin).
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