Natasha Bieniek wins the 2015 Portia Geach Memorial Award

From a pool of 295 entries, Melbourne-based artist Natasha Bieniek has been selected as the winner of the 2015 Portia Geach Memorial Award, the pre-eminent portraiture prize for women in Australia.

Celebrating its 50th year, the Portia Geach Memorial Award was established by Florence Kate Geach in memory of her sister, artist Portia Geach. As per the direction of the will, the Award is annually presented to an Australian female artist for the best portrait painted from life of a man or woman distinguished in art, letters or the sciences.

As trustee of the Award, Perpetual, presented Bieniek with the $30,000 prize for her self-portrait entitled Sahara, at the official opening of the Award exhibition on Thursday 17 September at the S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, Sydney.

The win is just the icing on the cake for Bieniek who has successfully won this year’s $50,000 Wynne Prize for landscape, was shortlisted for the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship and had a sell-out solo exhibition of 14 paintings at the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair.

“I feel incredibly honoured to be awarded such a significant prize. One of the great things about the Portia Geach Memorial Award is its focus on contemporary female portrait painters. In a male dominated industry, I believe it’s important to promote and encourage the work of female artists to facilitate greater equality. This year there were many worthy winners and it’s a privilege to have my work hanging alongside such immense talent. Winning this award means a great deal and it will give me the resources to keep surviving as a full-time artist and the opportunity to continue to contribute to our artistic culture”, says Bieniek.

The judging panel, which included Samantha Meers, Trustee of Art Gallery of New South Wales, Eleonora Triguboff, Art Publisher & Trustee of Art Gallery of New South Wales and Jane Watters, Director, S.H Ervin Gallery, commented that the list of finalists for the Award demonstrated that contemporary Australian portraiture has a vibrant future.

On Bieniek’s outstanding portrait, they said: “Natasha Bieniek’s work displays exceptional technical skill and virtuosity and conveys powerful emotion through positioning of the figure which appears to merge with the drapery of the setting. The painting possesses an eerie stillness which amplifies the emotion of the sitter and creates a mysterious mood within the work.”

Tamara Dean’s A woman of influence and Jenny Rodgerson’s Self portrait No. 8 were awarded the Highly Commended prize. An exhibition of the winning works and all finalists’ works are on now at the S.H. Ervin Gallery until 25 October.

  

S.H. Ervin Gallery
Until 25 October, 2015
Sydney

Natasha Bieniek, Sahara, oil on wood, 13.5 x 18.5cm
Tamara Dean, A woman of influence, oil on linen, 25 x 30cm
Jenny Rodgerson, Self portrait No. 8, oil on linen, 61 x 76cm

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