Time is running out to enter one of Australia’s longest-running and most prestigious (and unpredictable) art prizes, the Blake Prize.
Open to artists exploring the wider experience of spirituality, religion and belief, the Blake Prize engages artists nationally and internationally. It is presented by the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in Mark Latham’s stomping ground in Sydney. (Indeed, it was Mark Latham who initiated funding for the Casula Powerhouse during his tenure of Mayor of Liverpool.)
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Director, Craig Donarski, said he very much looks forward to seeing the incredible slate of submissions and, as the entries traverse both belief and non-belief, “The conversations they’ll undoubtedly crack open regarding spirituality.”
In 2013, the Blake Prize was posthumously awarded to Indigenous artist, Trevor Nickolls, for his 2011 work, Metamorphosis, which depicts an Aboriginal man ascending into the Dreamtime.
Previous Indigenous finalists include Shirley Purdie, Nelly Gordon, Elizabeth Kunoth Kngwarray, Cowboy Loy Pwerle and Margaret Loy Pula.
On offer for the best contemporary work addressing the religious or spiritual, are:
The Blake Prize – $35,000 (non-acquisitive main prize).
The Blake Emerging Artist Prize – $6,000 (acquisitive).
The Blake Established Artist Residency “ Residency and solo exhibition hosted by CPAC.
