Polixeni Papapetrou has won the $30,000 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize with her work Delphi (2016) from her ‘Eden’ series.
‘Papapetrou’s portrait of Delphi captures the complex vitality of late adolescence. Emerging from a tableau of blooms, which metaphorically evoke the cycle of life and death, this young woman seems to be both brimming with potential and delicately embedded in her environment. This is a moving meditation on existence itself, while also affirming women as strong and beautiful forces of life,’ says Stephen Zagala, Senior Curator, Monash Gallery of Art.
Polixeni Papapetrou’s 30-year photographic career has seen her explore a range of subjects; from documentary-style portraits of drag queens, body builders and Elvis fans to staged portraits of her children dressed in masks and costumes in front of real and imaginary backgrounds. Her ‘Eden’ series comprises of 10 studio-based artworks: Delphi, Heart, Spring, Amaranthine, Blinded, Flora, Eden, Psyche, Amaryllis, and Rhodora. Created for the Centre for Contemporary Photography commission in response to the Melbourne General Cemeter, Papapetrou photographed flowers obtained from the cemetery against a black backdrop to invoke ideas about mourning and remembrance.
‘Eden invites the viewer to celebrate the beauty of nature and honour its transience,’ writes Papapetrou. ‘We, like flowers, are subject to seasons of growth, blossoming, and wilting. The young women in the photographs, in the Springtime of their lives, are surrounded by flowers; on backdrops, on dresses; held or worn, they adorn and overrun them.’
Polixeni Papapetrou, Delphi, 2016, from the series ‘Eden’, edition of 6 + 1AP; pigment ink print, 127.5 x 85cm
Jenny Pollak, Alberto 2, 2015-17, from the series ‘Last call’, pigment ink-jet print, 82 x 70cm. Courtesy the artist
Danica Chappel, Fermata #14, 2016, from the series ‘Fermata’, tintypes, 111 x 78.1cm. Courtesy the artist
The 2017 finalists are: Hoda Afshar, Tim Allen, Rushdi Anwar, Kris Arnold, Robert Ashton, Peter Barnes, Del Kathryn Barton, Colin Batrouney, Elaine Batton, Olga Bennett, Vanessa Bertagnole, Tom Blachford, Polly Borland, Peter Bratuskins, Eric Bridgeman, Jane Burton, Elaine Campaner, Stuart Chape, Danica Chappell, Peta Clancy, Emilio Cresciani, Gerwyn Davies, Lauren Dunn, Tanya Maria Dyhin, Amos Gebhardt, Silvi Glattauer, Robert Hague, Rhett Hammerton, Alana Holmberg, Eliza Hutchison, Leah King-Smith, Peter Lambropoulos, Helga Leunig nee’ Salwerowicz, Jon Lewis, Janelle Low, Tayla Martin, Kent Morris, Nasim Nasr, Will Nolan, Jill Orr and Christina Simons, Polixeni Papapetrou, Izabela Pluta, Jenny Pollak, Clare Rae, Kate Robertson, David Rosetzky, Jo Scicluna, Damien Shen, Matthew Sleeth, David Stephenson and Martin Walch, Suellen Symons, Christian Thompson, Tobias Titz, James Tylor, Henri van Noordenburg, Justine Varga, Lisa Walker, Amanda Williams, and Robin Williams.
Monash Gallery of Art
Until 26 November, 2017
Melbourne
