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2017 John Fries Award Finalists Announced

Published on the 26 Apr 2017
Claudia Nicholson, The Battle of the Sad Night (La Noche Triste): Spring break, Cancun 1503. The Spaniards were sad because they had broken treasure and men. JLo and Ja Rule were smashing glasses of champagne next to the swimming pool and then god said, ͞

The finalists for the 2017 John Fries Award have been announced.

From a field of more than 600 Australian and New Zealand early career visual artists, 12 practitioners have been selected for exhibition in this year’s event and are eligible for the award worth $10,000.

The John Fries Award, now in its eighth year, recognises outstanding talent among emerging practitioners and provides a platform for these artists to exhibit new, experimental work of contemporary art spanning the realms of photography, installation, sculpture, new media, painting, performance, text-based art, graphic design, and video.

Interdisciplinary artist and 2017 John Fries Award curator and judge, Consuelo Cavaniglia, says, “This year’s finalists are drawn from a broad cross-section of early career artists with diverse and engaging practices. Although there is no single curatorial theme, many of the finalists’ work engages with questions of cultural identity and consideration on landscape.”

2017 John Fries Award finalists include Amanda Williams (UNSW Art & Design) representing New South Wales and exhibiting photography and installation; Angela Tiatia (UNSW Art & Design), representing New South Wales and exhibiting multidisciplinary works; Anwar Young, representing South Australia and exhibiting sculpture and new media; Barayuwa Mununggurr, representing the Northern Territory and exhibiting sculpture and painting; Ben Leslie, representing South Australia and exhibiting sculpture; Bridget Reweti, representing New Zealand and exhibiting video and performance; Claudia Nicholson (UNSW Art & Design) representing New South Wales and exhibiting multidisciplinary works; Fayen d’Evie, representing Victoria and exhibiting installation, performance, writing works; Ella Sutherland, representing New Zealand and exhibiting text-based art and graphic design; Kuba Dorabialski (UNSW Art & Design), representing New South Wales and exhibiting video and performance; Tina Havelock Stevens, representing New South Wales and exhibiting multidisciplinary works; and Kathy Ramsey, representing Western Australia and exhibiting painting.

The 2017 John Fries Award winner will be determined by a panel of guest judges including: Consuelo Cavaniglia, Guest Curator of John Fries Award 2017-2018; Melanie Oliver, Senior Curator and Programs Manager at The Dowse Art Museum, Wellington; Clothilde Bullen, Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia;  Fiona Lowry, UNSW Art & Design graduate and winner of the Archibald Prize, the Moran Prize, and the Fleurieu Landscape Prize; and Kath Fries, artist, Viscopy board member, Chair of the John Fries Award committee, and daughter of the late John Fries.

The winner of the John Fries Award will be announced on 10 August 2017 at UNSW Galleries.  The exhibition runs from 11 August – 2 September 2017.

The John Fries Award was established by the Fries family in 2010 in memory of former Viscopy director and honorary treasurer, John Fries.