Monash Gallery of Art (MGA), on behalf of the MGA Foundation, has announced the shortlisted finalists for the 2020 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize. Congratulations;
Klari Agar, Belinda Allen, Sam Amar, Riste Andrievski, Emma Armstrong-Porter, Zoe Arnott, Robert Ashton, Narelle Autio, Reza Bagheri, Kate Baker, Charlie Barker, Chris Barry, Chris Bekos, Madeline Bishop, Tom Blachford, Paul Blackmore, Chris Bond and Drew Pettifer, Jesse Boyd-Reid, Jane Brown, Karen Burgess, Jane Burton, Danica Chappell, Ali Choudhry, Peta Clancy, Michael Cook, Nici Cumpston, Matteo Dal Vera and Michael Weatherill, Tamara Dean, Karla Dickens, Stephen Dupont, Louise Faulkner, Jacqueline Felstead, Anne Ferran, Ash Garwood, Amos Gebhardt, Tom Goldner, John Gollings, Philip Gostelow, Helen Grace, Lee Grant, Janina Green, Helen Grogan, Ponch Hawkes, Leila Jeffreys, Shea Kirk, Shivanjani Lal, Kelvin Lau, Honey Long and Prue Stent, Fiona MacDonald, Alister McKeich, Izabela Pluta, Greg Semu, Damien Shen, Slippage, Valerie Sparks, Cyrus Tang, Christian Thompson, Louise Whelan, Amanda Williams, and Anne Zahalka.
Tamara Dean, Tumbling through the treetops, 2020, from the series ‘In isolation’, pigment ink-jet print, 110 x 160cm. Courtesy the artist and Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
The judging panel – comprised of acclaimed artist Fiona Hall, NGA Senior Curator of Photography, Dr Shaune Lakin, and MGA Director, Anouska Phizacklea – selected the shortlist from over 1,000 entries, the most received in the prize’s history. The amount and calibre of the entries necessarily sparked a robust debate around narrowing down the field and landing on works that speak to such a challenging and pivotal moment in history.
‘We knew this year was going to be like no other. Over the summer period, our country was ravaged by bushfires just at the precipice of the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which has swept across the globe and changed how our society functions and how we live in the world. The dislocation that these events have had on society have been infused into the experience of artists and their practice. Some photographers this year have chosen to tackle the currency of these events, others have works that predate the fires and pandemic – there is an intensity to these works, and one can read a pre- and post-COVID-19 lens – the shortlisted artists illustrate its impact and the change that we all feel.’ — Anouska Phizacklea, MGA Gallery Director
In light of COVID-19 restrictions and the impact on the sector, the MGA Foundation has made a number of alterations to the prize this year; including the extension of the exhibition period over summer (31 October to 7 February 2021) with a commitment to ensuring a physical as well as a virtual exhibition. The announcement of the $30,000 winner, Smith & Singer People’s Choice Award recipient of $5,000, and the Colour Factory Honourable Mentions will be celebrated at a special event to be confirmed in January 2021.
The 2020 Bowness Photography Prize finalists’ works at www.mga.org.au/bowness-prize
