Seven artists have been shortlisted for this year’s NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Mid-career/Established), with one artist or partnership set to receive a cash amount of $30,000 from Create NSW, a major Artbank commission of up to $20,000 and a five-week residency at one of the supporting regional galleries – Murray Arts Museum Albury (MAMA), and the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Arts Centre (TRGMOAC) in the Northern Rivers.
The Fellowship is awarded annually to provide a mid-career or established artist with the opportunity to undertake a self-directed program of professional development.
The work of Zanny Begg, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, Jonathan Jones, Eugenia Raskopoulos, Keg de Souza and Justene Williams will be featured in an exhibition at Artbank in Sydney from 26 October 2017 to 16 February 2018, with the Fellowship recipient to be announced on the opening night of the exhibition.
The shortlisted artists / partnerships for the 2018 Create NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Mid-career/Established) are:
Zanny Begg (Bulli) is an artist and filmmaker who creates works that are influenced by the traditions of documentary as well as the creative tensions between artifice and realism.
Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro (Blackheath) work collaboratively to create art that re-purposes accumulated objects into extraordinary sculptures and installations with a distinctive humour and aesthetic.
Jonathan Jones (Bondi) creates site-specific installations and interventions that focus on the exploration of Aboriginal practices, relationships and ideas using a range of mediums including printmaking, drawing, sculpture and film.
Eugenia Raskopoulos (Bardwell Park) focuses on ideas of identity, the fragmented body, language, translation and transcription, exploring the margins of photography and video that synthesizes performance, writing, drawing and large-scale installation.
Keg de Souza (Waterloo) works with multiple mediums including temporary architecture, food and dialogical projects to explore the politics of space.
Justene Williams (East-Hills) current practice focuses on the creation of elaborate handmade sets and costumes for both live performances and large scale sensorial video installations.