"Last Summer," by Chris Budgeon.

Winners of the 2012 Head On Portrait Prize have been announced with Chris Budgeon, David Manley, Tracey Nearmy and Louise Whelan sharing the top awards.

The winners were chosen from more than 2,500 entries and 40 finalists.

Three of the photographers – Chris Budgeon (Elsternwick, Victoria), David Manley (Darlinghurst, NSW) and Tracey Nearmy (Bondi, NSW) – were equal winners of the Head On Portrait Prize, while Loise Whelan (Avalon, NSW) won the Head On Critic’s Choice.

“The calibre of entries this year was extremely high,” said Head On founder, Moshe Rosenzveig.

“We received over 2,500 entries… The judging process was extremely arduous in determining the winner however the images were chosen for their photographic technique and artistic merit.”

The winners will share more than $50,000 in prizes as well as the highly coveted Head On Portrait Prize award.

The award was judged by award winning photographer Tamara Dean, Monash Gallery Director Shaune Lakin, ABC broadcaster and collector Robbie Buck and Head On curator Moshe Rosenzveig. Robert McFarlane judged the Critics Choice.

Winners and finalists will be on show at the Australian Centre for Photography in Paddington from 4 May to 3 June (daily 10am to 5pm).

The Head On Portrait Prize was founded by Moshe Rosenzveig in 2004 with the main selection criteria being the quality and impact of the image, rather than the celebrity of the photographer or subject. Head On has since grown into a month-long annual photo festival in Sydney. This year the Head On Photo Festival comprises more than 200 photo exhibitions and events across Sydney and runs from 4 May to 3 June.

"First Shiner," by Tracey Nearmy.

"Millie #2," by Louise Whelan.

"Brian," by David Manley.

Head On Portrait Prize on Artabase

Sydney, Australia:  A major new biennial contemporary art fair will be launched in April 2013 by the founder of one of the world’s most respected and successful art fairs, ART HK.

The inaugural Sydney Contemporary will be held from Friday 12^th until Sunday 14^th April 2013 at the Hordern Pavillion and Royal Hall of Industries at Moore Park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, with the Vernissage held on the evening of Thursday 11^th April 2013.

Featuring established and emerging galleries from Australia and overseas, Sydney Contemporary will cater to a broad spectrum of experienced and potentially new collectors. It will celebrate the work of artists across a diverse range of mediums with a focus on global trends that span the modern and contemporary timeline and include painting, photography, works on paper, sculpture as well as featuring performance and new media.

Sydney Contemporary is organised by Art Fairs Australia Pty Ltd, a company founded by Tim Etchells of SME London Ltd. Etchells is founder of ART HK, the Hong Kong international art fair, which has grown to become a major fixture on the international art calendar.

Etchells recently founded a new modern and contemporary art fair in London, called Art13 London, and is pleased to confirm he has entered in to an agreement with Melbourne Art Foundation to manage and operate the Melbourne Art Fair from 2014. Both organisations will be working together collaboratively at a strategic and operational level to ensure great Fairs work for artists, their galleries and art lovers.

“Sydney Contemporary represents the first time this city has hosted a serious, high-end art fair. We expect it to play a significant role in helping to focus attention on the Sydney art scene in the same way that ART HK focused attention on Asian art,” said Mr Etchells.

“The fair provides a vital new platform from which galleries, artists and collectors can deepen and grow networks and relationships both with local contacts and throughout the broader Asia Pacific region,“ said Mr Tim Etchells.

“We are launching at a time when the market is rapidly changing and art fairs are a significant part of any gallery’s marketing strategy, by catering both to existing markets whilst also creating new ones. Sydney Contemporary will educate and excite the wider community about the work of contemporary artists by offering a dynamic program of events,” said Mr Etchells.

Art Fairs Australia is pleased to announce the appointment of Fair Director, Francesca Valmorbida, a visual arts specialist and curator who brings more than two decades of experience to the position. Valmorbida produced a number of visual arts projects for leading contemporary arts organisations including the Sydney and Melbourne Festivals and has worked on audience development for commercial and government art enterprises such as Artbank.

“Sydney Contemporary arrives at a time when this city’s passion for contemporary art is stronger than ever. The recent launch of the contemporary galleries at the Art Gallery of NSW, the growing popularity of the Biennale of Sydney, and the MCA welcoming its 100,000^th visitor in the first month of re-opening is clear evidence of this interest,“ said Francesca Valmorbida.

“The fair will offer international and domestic cultural tourists the chance to engage with the best of the Sydney arts scene that includes foundations, commercial galleries, public art projects as well as world class institutions,” said Ms Valmorbida.

Valmorbida will work with a curatorial panel to provide a robust schedule of artist commissions, talks, tours, workshops and education programs to be run in partnership with leading Sydney art institutions.

The program will cater for everyone, from the most passionate collector through to new art buyers and even the smallest art enthusiast, who will be able to take part in an interactive school holiday program.

Sydney Contemporary will include specialist sections such as New Contemporary that is dedicated to the support of living artists and profiling artist run initiatives (ARIs) and younger cutting-edge gallery spaces. The fair will also offer an extensive VIP program designed to rethink ways in which art is collected, experienced and understood.

A group of Dutch artists have put away their paint and brushes, and instead picked up the artistic medium of financial economics in a new project they call the Art Reserve Bank.

Located in a real, physical bank within the heart of Amsterdam’s troubled financial district, the Art Reserve Bank began trading its new currency, called Art Works, on May 1st this year.

Coins in the Art Works currency can be purchased at an opening exchange rate of €100 per coin. Like a normal bank trading real currency, each coin is sold with a money-back guarantee. However the Art Reserve Bank is so confident of its unique banking process, that it also guarantees an impressive 10% interest per year on a buy-back.

The first Art Works coin designed by Bill Drummond can be purchased at the currency's opening rate of € 100 per coin.

Each month for five years, a different artist will design a new series of four coins. Every artistic design will be limited to a circulation of only 100 coins.

Like other international currencies, the Art Works coins will be traded in an online dealing room, which will allow a free market economy to generate the currency’s international exchange rate.

Because the Art Reserve Bank is really just an experiment, in five years time the bank will deliberately close, after which point the currency’s money-back guarantee will disappear. Only then will the currency’s exchange rate be free to move below the bank’s existing buy-back value.

Not until that time will we really know whether the proposal that these artists are making is correct; that the artistic value of the Art Works currency will be sufficient to keep the public’s demand for the coins higher than the remaining supply, thereby continuing to increase the currency’s exchange rate, and economic worth.

But perhaps in the end, like any other tradeable art, the value of the Art Works currency will depend on how attractive the artistic designs end up being, to collectors of contemporary art.

The Art Reseve Bank

ArtsPeak is disappointed to learn that the National Cultural Policy has been postponed, as reported yesterday in the Fairfax media and confirmed by the Federal Office for the Arts.

ArtsPeak is the confederation of the 32 national peak arts organisations, which aims to promote the value of the arts in Australia and strengthen the capacity of the arts sector.

Julie Dyson and Tamara Winikoff, ArtsPeak Co-conveners, said today, “While we are disappointed to hear of the delay, we wish to reaffirm our support for the development of a well crafted and well resourced National Cultural Policy, and to assure the Government that our aspirations for a stronger and better supported arts industry remain undiminished.”

The arts industry has been eagerly awaiting the release of the National Cultural Policy, the first such policy to be proposed since former Prime Minister Paul Keating’s ‘Creative Nation’ was adopted in 1994.

During the Arts Minister’s consultation process last year, ArtsPeak strongly supported the development of a National Cultural Policy.

ArtsPeak, through its member organisations, represents thousands of arts and cultural organisations and individual artists. On their behalf and their millions of audience and participant members, we call on the Government to minimise the delay of the National Cultural Policy, and to demonstrate that support for the arts is high on the Government’s agenda.

“The cultural sector has fundamental significance in providing value to the creative endeavours, quality of life and expression of identity of the Australian community”, said Dyson and Winikoff.

ArtsPeak believes that urgently needed is an articulation of specific strategies within a National Cultural Policy and appropriate resource allocation to further advance the contribution made by the arts to all Australians.

ArtsPeak Members
• Arnhem and Northern Kimberly Aboriginal Artists Association (ANKAAA)
• Arts Access Australia (AAA)
• Arts Industry Council (Vic)
• Arts Industry Council (SA)
• Arts Law Centre of Australia
• Ausdance – Australian Dance Council
• Australian Copyright Council (ACC)
• Australian Craft and Design Centres (ACDC)
• Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG)
• Australian Music Centre (AMC)
• Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT)
• Australian Performing Arts Centres’ Association (APACA)
• Australian Society of Authors (ASA)
• Craft Australia
• Kultour
• Live Performance Australia
• Media Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA)
• Music Council of Australia (MCA)
• Museums Australia
• National Arts and Culture Alliance (NACA)
• National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
• Performing Arts Touring Alliance
• Regional Arts Australia (RAA)
• Theatre Network Victoria
• Young People and the Arts Australia (YPAA)

PICA is proud to announce the 2012 winner of the $35,000 Dr Harold Schenberg Art Prize is Lachlan Petras, a recent graduate from Monash University (VIC), for his work entitled Aggregate, a video projection onto a concave sculptural object made up of over 300 plywood facets.

The award was presented by Nick Dilorenzo, a trustee of The Dr Harold Schenberg Bequest, during the Hatched opening ceremony in the Perth Cultural Centre on Friday night. The judging panel was comprised of PICA Director, Amy Barrett-Lennard; Curator of Contemporary Australian Art at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Jenepher Duncan; and Acting Curator of the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art at the University of Western Australia, Lee Kinsella.

The judges found their task particularly difficult when faced with an extraordinarily strong field of work by this year’s participating Hatched artists. In addition to selecting the award winner they gave honourable mentions to artists Sarah Jane Haywood, Amina McConvell and Pip Stafford.

Recalling motifs from Velazquez and Francis Bacon and conflating cinematic tropes with architectural structures, Aggregate presents the viewer with two protagonists, a mirror-plated figure and a little person, with symbolic Superman and Transformers tattoos, who are situated within a wind tunnel facility – a strangely mysterious site that resembles a science fiction set, silo or space station.

PICA Director Amy Barrett-Lennard says, “When considering an artist for this award the judges were looking for a distinctive and individual approach, a refined visual language, conceptual rigour, technical excellence and clarity of communication. We got all this and more in Lachlan Petras’ Aggregate, a fresh, intelligent, ambitious and refined work that lead us to believe that this graduate had the capacity to significantly further their career as an artist”.

The Doctor Harold Schenberg Art Prize is awarded each year to one outstanding Hatched artist, enabling them to invest in the development of their practice through travel, research or production support.

Hatched: National Graduate Show 2012 continues until 10 June.

Hatched on Artabase

The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia announces MCA ARTBAR, Sydney’s new monthly afterhours contemporary art social happening produced by the art world’s freshest, most exciting creative minds, to celebrate Art.

“Contemporary art in Australia is going to be the next big thing” said Richard Dorment in a recent article for the UK Daily Telegraph. We certainly think so, and starting in May, MCA ARTBAR will surely add to this wide-spread surge of interest.

ARTBAR is a different kind of event with a distinctly aesthetic philosophy, bringing a new energy to the Museum’s audience and attracting a wider night, culture and art crowd.

Held on the last Friday of every month, ARTBAR takes over the entire new wing and one exhibition space. A guest artist curates the evening through music, performance, multimedia, and design.

Drawing inspiration from Volume One: MCA Collection, the first ARTBAR kicks off on 25 May 2012 with Sydney-based photographer and video artist Justene Williams, whose Crutch Dance (2011) television installation is currently on display in the MCA’s Level 1 South Gallery.

Sponsored by German luxury carmaker Audi, the first ARTBAR is also held on the same day as Vivid Sydney’s opening night, so guests have the double pleasure of being the first to experience this novel gathering and of getting the best view of Vivid’s light installations.

Audi Australia’s Managing Director, Uwe Hagen, said that the brand has a long history as a keen supporter of the Arts and culture in Australia and around the globe.

“Audi welcomes the MCA’s ARTBAR initiative. The concept is a great reflection of our brand values of sophistication and progressiveness, and it is also a thoughtful and enjoyable way to see the very latest exhibitions at the MCA, combining contemporary art with the ideal end to the working week. We view our partnership with the MCA as an excellent opportunity to give back to the community which supports the growth of Audi in Australia,” Mr Hagen said.

Each event sees the spaces transform into an ephemeral bar with DJs, performances, and guests are invited to share a drink, dare and discover.

These rendezvous are conceived as one off, unique experiences, ensuring that there is always something different to experience at MCA ARTBAR driven by AUDI.

It is art but not as you know it.

$20/$15 MCA Members and Concessions. Over 18s only. Bookings online now open at http://mca.com.au

Last Friday of every month, 7pm-11pm
For more information, visit: http://mca.com.au or http://facebook.com/MCAARTBAR

MCA on Artabase

Ben Quilty 'Dad' 2012, 190 x 140cm, Oil on Linen

The 2012 Redlands Westpac Art Prize today announced the winners of the ‘established artist’ and ‘emerging artist’ categories at the National Art School (NAS) in Darlinghurst, where the prize is being presented for the first time.

2011 Archibald Winner Ben Quilty has been named winner of the ‘established artist’ category for an intimate and moving portrait of his father. Sydney-based artist Kelly Doley has been named winner of the coveted ‘emerging artist’ category. The artists were selected from the 47 contemporary visual artists from across Australia and New Zealand who have been chosen to present work in this year’s Prize and exhibition. The winning artists will be awarded a total of $31,000 in prize money, with $20,000 allocated to the established artist category and $10,000 for the emerging artist. A further $1,000 is allocated for a visitors’ choice award based on public votes gathered during the exhibition.

The prestigious 16th annual Redlands Westpac Art Prize was this year curated by respected Sydney-based artist Lindy Lee. The Prize was judged by a panel including Rachel Kent, Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art; Katie Dyer, NAS Curator; and Redlands Visual Arts teachers Mark Harpley and Fabian Byrne.

Judge Rachel Kent said that in selecting Ben Quilty as the recipient of the 2012 Redlands Westpac Art Prize, she was drawn both to the artist’s technical mastery of paint and his choice of subject matter.

‘Based in regional New South Wales, Quilty is known for his paintings addressing themes of masculinity, youth, and the rites of passage from childhood to maturity. Often his subjects are family and friends, painted with a characteristically spare, impasto style – thick, textured sweeps of paint against an unadorned background, in which the contrast of shadow and light creates visual depth,’ said Ms Kent.

‘This work presents a surprisingly frank portrait of the artist’s father, seated, with naked torso. In it, Quilty’s interest in masculinity is evident, as is the exploration of family and the father-son relationship. Is the father a willing sitter? I would guess not: his gaze is apprehensive, his eyes slightly averted, his posture pulling back into the chair. At the same time he is vulnerable in his nakedness and advanced age, seated before the scrutiny of the artist, his son,’ said Ms Kent.

Emerging Artist category winner Kelly Doley is a founding member of Sydney performance/video collaboration Brown Council. Doley’s solo practice preferences collaboration and exchange with people and imagines possible futures and ways of life.

Kelly Doley 'The Learning Centre: 49 Things Learnt About Humans', 2012, blackboard paint, MDF, chalk, archival printed and bound book dimensions variable

The winning work by Doley, The Learning Centre: 49 Things Learnt About Humans, traverses painting, performance and installation. Since 2010, the young artist has received over 27 lessons from members of the public in exchange for a painting of their choice.

Commenting on her winning art work, Kelly Doley said: ‘Over the past two years, I have undertaken an ongoing investigation into the sorts of principles, objectives and knowledge people uphold in order to find or maintain meaning in their lives. The blackboards are leftover from a lesson on Alchemy and a lesson on Indigenous Nyungar Culture. The book is a collation of everything I have learnt and includes quotes from Anarchists, to Christians, scientists and artists to Life Coaches and Shamans. Some profound, some banal.’

The 2012 winning artists of the established and emerging prize categories will have their works automatically acquired into the permanent collection of Redlands. With the exception of winning artworks acquired by Redlands, all works exhibited in the Prize will be available for purchase.

The Westpac Redlands Prize has a unique model in that Sydney artists and Curator of the prize, this year Lindy Lee, initially invited 22 established artists and an artist collective to participate. Each of those artists in turn selected an emerging artist to submit work. This approach fosters mentoring relationships between older and younger generations of practicing visual artists.

Redlands Westpac Art Prize on Artabase

Artist pairings announced for 16th Redlands Westpac Art Prize, to be presented for the first time at the National Art School

Discover the stories behind some of the Gallery’s most famous works with our new Australian app for iPad. Available to browse in the Art Lounge, a recreation of the 1972 smokers’ lounge, with beautiful views of the harbour, complete with original Corbusier chairs (but minus the ashtrays!). Free to download from the App Store.

This is the second in a suite of collection-focused apps for iPad.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Contemporary app for iPad is available to download from the App Store.

Art Gallery of New South Wales on Artabase

In 2011, CCP enabled 349 artists to exhibit their work, presented 22 workshops, 58 lectures, education programs and artist talks.

Your contribution to CCP as an audience member is valued.
Your donation to CCP is vital.

Your tax-deductible gift will:
Host CCP’s website for one month – $25
Provide wall text for exhibitions – $50
Keep the gallery lights on for one month – $500
Support our youth community arts education program – $2,000
Produce an exhibition catalogue – $3,500
Pay exhibition fees for five artists – $4,300
Buy CCP its own building – $7,000,000

All donations over $2.00 are tax deductible. Please use the online secure payments form to make an online donation using your credit card. If you prefer not to use the online form, or would like to donate to CCP via cheque, please download the CCP Donation Form or call +61 3 9417 1549.

CCP on Artabase

Infinite Note © All rights reserved Ryan Presley 2012 Australia

The 2012 Redlands Westpac Art Prize has announced the list of 47 contemporary visual artists who will present work in the prize and exhibition, to be presented for the first time at the National Art School from 3 May until 2 August 2012.

The 47 contemporary artists hail from Australia and New Zealand and will present work in the 16^th annual exhibition and Prize that in 2012 has been curated by respected Sydney-based artist Lindy Lee.

The Prize has a unique model in that Lindy initially invited 22 established artists and an artist collective to participate and each of those artists in turn selected an emerging artist to submit work. This approach fosters mentoring relationships between older and younger generations of practicing visual artists.

The winning artists will be awarded a total of $31,000 in prize money, with $20,000 allocated to the established artist category and $10,000 for the emerging artist. A further $1,000 is allocated for a visitors’ choice award based on public votes gathered during the exhibition.

The Prize places no limitations on artistic mediums and attracts a diverse range of painting, photography, installation, sculpture and new media works.

For the first time in 2012, the artists will present more than one work in the exhibition to be presented at the National Art School Gallery from 3 May until 2 August 2012. A series of artist talks will also be held at the National Art School during the exhibition.

The ‘pairings’ of established and emerging artists that will present work in the Prize are as follows:

• Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan nominated emerging artist Emma Lindsay
• Stephen Bird nominated emerging artist Anne Kwasner
• Gina Bruce nominated emerging artist Addison Marshall
• Adam Chang nominated emerging artist Danny Chang
• Marley Dawson nominated emerging artist Coen Young
• David Eastwood nominated emerging artist Theresa Darmody
• Maria Fernanda Cardoso nominated emerging artist Clare Milledge
• Anne Ferran nominated emerging artist Barbara Doran and Jason Watson
• Newell Harry nominated emerging artist Max Lieberman
• Song Ling nominated emerging artist Natasha Bienjek
• Stephen Little nominated emerging artist Akira Alvarez-Sharkey
• Danie Mellor nominated emerging artist Leonard Andy and Kate Scardifield
• Kate Murphy nominated emerging artist Scott Morrison
• Rodney Pople nominated emerging artist Ben Ali Ong
• Ben Quilty nominated Josey Kidd-Crowe
• Nusra Qureshi nominated emerging artist Jessie Angwin
• Elvis Richardson nominated emerging artist Emily Hunt
• Joan Ross nominated emerging artist Dara Gill
• Paul Ryan nominated emerging artist Jason Wing
• Rachel Scott nominated emerging artist Aoife Milson
• Samuel Tupou nominated emerging artist Ryan Presley
• Justene Williams nominated emerging artist Kelly Doley
• Regina Wilson nominated emerging artist Patsy Marfura

Redlands Westpac Art Prize has a rich history of working with some of Australia and New Zealand’s most acclaimed artists including Arthur Boyd, Tim Maguire, Tim Storrier, Garry Shead, Guan Wei, Dorothy Napangardi, Gloria Petyarri, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Imants Tillers and Ray Crooke.

The 2012 winning artists of the established and emerging prize categories will have their works automatically acquired into the permanent collection of Redlands. With the exception of the winning art works that are acquired by Redlands School, all works exhibited in the Prize will be available for purchase.

The Prize will be judged by a panel including Rachel Kent, Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Katie Dyer, NAS Curator and Redlands Visual Arts teachers Mark Harpley and Fabian Byrne.

Judging will take place on Tuesday 1 May with the announcement to be made to media at a media conference to be held at 10:30am on Wednesday 2 May at the National Art School.

Redlands Westpac Art Prize on Artabase