National Gallery of Victoria to Present the 2009 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award |
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| Written by Solomon Greenberg |
| Tuesday, 08 September 2009 01:45 |
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In 1991 a generous gift from Joan and Peter Clemenger enabled the National Gallery of Victoria to establish the Clemenger Contemporary Art Award. Since then, the Award has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the most prestigious and exciting visual arts events in Australia. Dr Gerard Vaughan, NGV Director, said: “The Clemenger Contemporary Art Award is one of the most respected and important awards for Australian contemporary arts.  “Through their generosity in establishing this Award, the Clemengers
have made a profound and important statement of support for contemporary art in
Australia. We are deeply grateful to them for establishing and supporting this
award for the past 18 years,” said Dr Vaughan. “The Award was always designed to conclude at the end of six exhibitions over a time span of nearly twenty years. The Clemengers are now discussing with the NGV other ways in which they will be involved in NGV contemporary art activities in the future.” As the past five exhibitions have demonstrated, the Clemenger Contemporary Art Award is national in its scope, cross-generational, and brings into dialogue the works of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian artists. Previous recipients of the Award are Bea Maddock (1993), Richard Larter (1996), John Nixon (1999), John Mawurndjul (2003) and Judy Watson (2006). Dr Alex Baker, Senior Curator Contemporary Art, NGV said: “Since the first exhibition in 1993 the Clemenger Award has become one of the most anticipated events for the display of new works by the most distinguished and influential Australian artists. “The Award draws together a group of established artists whose work is conceptually and stylistically diverse, yet unified in its engagement with some of the prevailing cultural and social issues of contemporary life,” said Dr Baker. The artists represented in this year’s exhibition are Peter Atkins, Vivienne Binns, Stephen Bush, Domenico de Clario, Destiny Deacon, Janenne Eaton, Julie Gough, Louise Hearman, Janet Laurence, Trevor Nickolls, Dennis Nona, Scott Redford, Julie Rrap, Guan Wei and Ah Xian. The recipient of the 2009 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award of $50,000 will be announced on Wednesday 16th September 2009. Since 1861, the National Gallery of Victoria has been displaying art works for the enjoyment of the community. In the mid-1990s, the gallery acknowledged that its St Kilda Road building could no longer successfully meet the demands of its growing collection and extensive exhibitions schedule. The Victorian State Government agreed to an extensive redevelopment of the site, and also contribute towards the funding of a second NGV building at Federation Square. The Collection is split between The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square, home of Australian art, and NGV International at St Kilda Road, the redeveloped building dedicated to the gallery's magnificent international artworks. Our visitors have two wonderful NGV buildings dedicated to bringing art and people together. Visit : http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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