Friday 18 October 2013

Metamorphosis by the late Trevor Nickolls has won the 2013 Blake Prize.

The 2013 Blake Prize for religious and spiritual art has been awarded overnight to internationally renowned South Australian artist, the late Trevor Nickolls. Nickolls, who passed away in 2012 at age 63, was the first Aboriginal artist to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1990, one of the oldest and most important contemporary art events in the world.

Before he passed away, Nickolls said his now award-winning painting Metamorphosis was inspired by the transformation of the physical being into the spiritual, depicting an Aboriginal man transformed into a butterfly (a ‘mimi spirit butterfly’) on his way to the spiritual realm. “I have included elements that are both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal – like the peace doves on each side of the Aboriginal man – which are Christian. This represents me – I am Aboriginal and also have other ancestry and was brought up Christian.”

The Blake Poetry Prize was awarded to Anthony Lawrence for his poem ‘Appellations’, which was described by judges as “edgy, breathtaking, intoxicating to read and highly skilful.”

“The narrator keeps the reader in suspense with an intriguing tale of nostalgia, mystery, intoxication, doubt and belief,” said the judges of Lawrence’s winning poem.

David Capra’s ‘Year of Jubilee’ video installation looks at aspects of religious expression and was shot at Jubilee International Church in Sydney.

The MUA Blake Prize for Human Justice (sponsored by the Maritime Union of Australia) which is for an artwork that raises questions and explores themes of human justice, was awarded to Franz Kempf AM for his work “The Outrageous Has Become Commonplace”, inspired by a quote from American clergyman and social justice activist Rev John Bachman (1790-1874): “The war is no longer declared but contrived. The outrageous has become commonplace.  So what has changed? We are now confronted by a disdain for diplomacy, and a reliance on military or paramilitary forces to settle disputes. With little concern for the innocent victims.  Collateral damage?”. Judges commended the work for its challenge to “recognise the great human tragedy of failing to heal the gouges, wounds and gaps in the delivery of a secure and pervasive protection against human rights abuses.”

The final award, the John Coburn Emerging Artist Award, was granted to Sydney-based video artist David Capra for his video ‘Year of Jubilee’, depicting handmade banners used in a Sunday morning service at Sydney’s Jubilee International Church. The video installation reflects upon Capra’s own religious community and practice, examining the “agency attributed to various forms of religious activity, especially as instigating healing.”

Rev Dr Rod Pattenden, a Uniting Church minister, artist and chairperson of The Blake Society says the annual prizes have explored a range of religious and spiritual ideas in its time, from “the nature of mysticism to the hard realities of everyday life.

“The Blake continues to challenge artists to use their artworks and camera lenses to provide truly thoughtful, considered and fascinating responses to the state of the world today and the big questions that plague us all,” said Pattenden.

The Blake Prize received over 900 entries this year, and selected 73 artists for its shortlist which can be viewed at Galleries UNSW at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney until 16 November.