Redfern-based, Dunghutti artist Blak Douglas has won Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery’s $30,000 Still: National Still Life Award with his sculpture Silent Cop (2021), a memorial to the ongoing tragedy of black deaths in custody.
Guest judge Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, announced the 2021 winner of the biennial acquisitive prize in a virtual ceremony on Saturday, 14 August. Accepting the award live online from Redfern, New South Wales, Douglas said the win was completely unexpected and acknowledged his Gumbaynggirr cousins for the honour, as a descendant of the neighbouring Dunghutti nation on the NSW Mid-North Coast. He looks forward to his work resonating with gallery audiences, including younger people.
Winner of Still: National Still Life Award 2021: Blak Douglas, Silent Cop, 2021, bronze,, concrete
‘I stepped outside of painting to create this piece because we are devoid of monuments, devoid of sculptures, of representations of first nation people across the continent,’ Douglas said. ‘The artwork speaks about the abhorrent fact that we still have black deaths in custody and the indigenous incarceration rate.’
‘Policeman’s hats’, also known as ‘silent cops’, were small hemispherical metal markers positioned at the centre of intersections to control traffic flow. Douglas combined this symbol of police presence with a traditional spear and refashioned the two objects together in bronze. It’s a powerful statement to heighten the public’s attention to the serious issues of indigenous deaths in custody, dispossession and loss. At the spear’s base, Douglas adapted the PayPal logo into ‘PayBak’.
‘This is the pivotal point of the artwork,’ explains Douglas. ‘You’ve got this spear that fits within that silent cop hat on the floor. The penny drops what I’m trying to comment about.’
Winner of Still: National Still Life Award 2021: Blak Douglas, Silent Cop (detail), 2021, bronze,, concrete. Photograph: Fire & Fly Media
During the judging, Macgregor said she was drawn to the artist’s use of bronze but didn’t immediately recognise Douglas’s work, the artist known more for his politically charged paintings.
‘It’s a sombre work, it’s a very beautiful work, and I hope the audience responds to it. I know the gallery will do a lot with it in terms of their education programs… It is a work you really have to see!’ said Macgregor.
Five highly commended works reflect the diverse mediums and geographic spread of this year’s prize: Steve Bush (NSW), Michael Cook (QLD), Rose Rigley (QLD), Lucy Roleff (VIC) and Emma Rani-Hodges (ACT).
A 3D Virtual Tour will launch by September, allowing all to view the 59 finalist works, vote for the $5,000 People’s Choice Award and access the digital catalogue with pricing.
Meanwhile, a selection of works will be explored each week on ‘Still Sundays’ with Mary McGillivray on TikTok and IGTV.
‘Still: National Still Life Award 2021’ is on view at Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery until 23 October 2021.
