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2018 John Fries Finalists Announced

Published on the 11 Apr 2018
Lisa Sammut. ‘You are sensible too’ (2014). HD video, colour, no sound. 12:09min looped.

The 2018 finalists for the prestigious John Fries Award have been announced.

From a huge field of close to 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 ninth 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.

The 2018 John Fries Award finalists include Akil Ahamat presenting installation and performance, Betty Muffler exhibiting painting, Beyula Napanangka Puntungka exhibiting painting, Emily Parsons-Lord (UNSW Art & Design) showing video, installation and performance, James Nguyen (UNSW Art & Design) showing video, performance and site installation, Jelena Telecki presenting painting, sculpture and installation, Laura Hindmarsh presenting moving image, photomedia and performance, Leyla Stevens showing moving image and photography, Lisa Sammut (UNSW Art & Design) presenting moving image and installation, Paul Greedy presetning sound sculpture and installation, Rachael Mipantjiti Lionel showing painting and jewellery, Rochelle Haley (UNSW Art & Design) presenting painting, drawing and movement.

The 2018 John Fries Award winner will be determined by a panel of guest judges including: Consuelo Cavaniglia, Guest Curator of John Fries Award 2017-2018; Sophia Kouyoumdjian, co-ordinator at Parramatta Artists studios; Dr Mikala Tai, director of 4A Centre of Contemporary Asian Art; Shannon Te Ao, Walters Prize-winning artist based in Wellington, New Zealand; and Kath Fries, artist, former Viscopy board member, Chair of the John Fries Award committee and daughter of the late John Fries.

The winner of the 2018 John Fries Award will be announced on 29 September at UNSW Galleries.  The exhibition runs from 29 September – 3 November 2018.

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