$100,000 Ramsay Art Prize draws diverse finalists at Art Gallery of SA

Videos and Indigenous works are among the finalists in this year’s contemporary Ramsay Art Prize at the Art Gallery of SA.

Moving image works feature prominently among the 24 finalists selected for this year’s national $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize for contemporary Australian art.

More than 350 artists, who must be aged under 40, submitted entries for the biennial competition and exhibition which is run by the Art Gallery of South Australia, funded by the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation.

Zaachariaha Fielding, born 1991, Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara people, South Australia, A Question About Direction, 2020, Adelaide, synthetic polymer paint on linen; Courtesy of the artist and APY Art Centre Collective, Adelaide, © Zaachariaha Fielding Photo: APY Art Centre Collective

Six finalists from SA include Electric Fields singer and painter Zaachariaha Fielding, alongside installation sculptor Kate Bohunnis, figure painter Solomon Kammer, glass artist Liam Fleming, Indigenous weaver Juanella McKenzie and textile artist Kasia Tons.

Video finalists include Sydney artist Cigdem Aydemir’s three-channel work Veils on Veils I, II, III, and Canberra academic Ella Barclay’s looped projection with sound titled Dense Bodies and Unknown Systems, which combines drone footage of her swimming in an Olympic pool with acrylic and electronics.

Liam Fleming, Australia, born 1989, Post Production, 2020, Adelaide, glass; Courtesy of the artist, © Liam Fleming. Photo: Grant Hancock

Cigdem Aydemir, Australia, born 1983, Veils on Veils I, II, III, 2020, Sydney, three channel HD video (still), 1.08 minutes; Courtesy of the artist and Finkelstein Gallery, Melbourne, © Cigdem Aydemir

Among the diverse variety of other mediums represented are an old bed frame, described as a “rickety wooden structure” by Singapore-born Melbourne sculptural artist Nabilah Nordin.

Art Gallery director Rhana Devenport said every state and territory was represented among the finalists this year, which is the third time the competition has been held.

“AGSA continues its championing of contemporary art practice in this exhibition that celebrates the energetic pulse of artistic practice in Australia right now,” Ms Devenport said.

Ella Barclay, Australia, born 1981, Dense Bodies and Unknown Systems, 2020, Canberra, projected looped video with sound (still), 4.30 minutes, acrylic, water, electronics, aluminium, steel; Courtesy of the artist, © Ella Barclay

Ramsay Foundation executive director, Kerry de Lorme said the prize offered “career-defining opportunities” for artists and brought new art to audiences.

The winner will be announced on May 21 at an exhibition of all the finalists’ work, which will open to the public the next day and run until August 22.

Fielding is also one of nine SA artists among the 65 finalists named yesterday for this year’s Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, the winners of which will be announced at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in August.