The Ballarat International Foto Biennale (BIFB) ‘Martin Kantor Portrait Prize’ is awarded for an exceptional photographic artwork of a significant, living Australian in the fields of art, letters, science, sport or politics.
We congratulate photography and video artist Penelope Hunt as this year’s winner of the ‘Martin Kantor Portrait Prize’ for her depiction of Alan Constable titled Finding Focus. Constable is a multi-disciplinary artist working across drawing, painting and ceramics and known for his ceramic camera artworks.
Penelope Hunt, Finding Focus, portrait of Alan Constable. Winner of the 2019 ‘Martin Kantor Portrait Prize’. Courtesy the artist and Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Victoria
Hunt’s Finding Focus will be on show in the ‘Martin Kantor Portrait Prize’ exhibition at Ballarat Town Hall until 20 October, as part of the 2019 Ballarat International Foto Biennale along with the other 2019 finalists; Alison Bennett, Chris Budgeon, Jeff Busby, Kelly Champion, Alex Ellinghausen, Robert Earp, Sonia Esposito, Ponch Hawkes, Shara Henderson, Sophia Hewson, Glenn Hunt, Katrin Koenning, Kellie Leczinska, Kirsten Lyttle, Ellie Meade, Mia Mala McDonald, Rod McNicol, Christopher Polack, Allison Rose, Sanjeev Singh, Rodney Stewart, Tristan Still, Tobias Titz, Thuy Vy and Steve Young.
Yichen Zhou, Daily Talk. Courtesy the artist and Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Victoria
In 2019 BIFB inaugurated the ‘Alane Fineman New Photography Award’ for photographic artists working in the Asia Pacific region. Yichen Zhou from China has been announced as the overall winner for this prize for her series of photographs titled Daily Talk, which relay a collection of personal daily thoughts inspired by the current contradictions in Chinese society.
Yichen’s work is on display at the Myer Ballarat Basement located at 301 Sturt Street, until 20 October. The remaining five finalists – Madeline Bishop (Australia), Grayson Cooke (Australia/NZ), Anton Gautama (Indonesia), Kehan Lai (China), Hyungjo Moon (South Korea) were also each awarded with a solo exhibition as part of the BIFB Core Program, details for these shows can be found on the BIFB website.
