Now in its fourth year, the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award continues to extend traditional notions of portraiture. The awards also highlight the National Portrait Gallery’s commitment to regular engagement with screen-based narratives and digital technology as well as fostering the core principles of portraiture.
In 2015 the Award is moving in an exciting new direction. With the generous support of the Macquarie Group Foundation, the Portrait Gallery is now offering two award categories for the most outstanding screen-based digital portraits: a $10,000 cash award for entrants aged 18 and over, and an artistic residency for entrants aged 18 to 30, valued at $15,000. This year the residency will take place at The Edge at the State Library of Queensland, one of Australia’s leading centres for the development of contemporary art across digital technologies. Both a prize and an exhibition of contemporary digital portraiture, the award is made possible through the Macquarie Group Foundation’s generous support, having committed $25,000 to the project each year.
Judges for the 2015 award were National Portrait Gallery Senior Curator Dr Christopher Chapman; Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Australia Anne O’Hehir; Contemporary artist Nell; and the Portrait Gallery’s Director of Access and Learning, Karen Vickery. Together they have selected the following finalists:
Joel Burrows (New South Wales)
Isabelle de Kleine (Victoria)
Tina Havelock Stevens (New South Wales)
Devika Bilimoria (Victoria)
Jacobus Capone (Western Australia)
Ilya Milstein (Victoria)
The announcement of the winners will take place on Friday 28 August, 10am at the National Portrait Gallery.
National Portrait Gallery
28 August, 2015 to 25 April 2016
Australian Capital Territory
Joel Burrows, still from Sorry, Xerox, Sorry, 03:12 minutes
Jacobus Capone, still from Dark Learning (act 9), 02:12 minutes
