Blake Prize
The Blake Prize is an Australian art prize awarded for religious art; in existence since 1951. The Prize was awarded annually from 1951 to 2015, and from 2016 has been awarded biennially.[1][2]
Blake Prize for Religious Art | |
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Awarded for | Engages contemporary artists, both nationally and internationally, in conversations concerning faith, spirituality, religion, hope, humanity, social justice, belief and non–belief. The Blake Prize presents an aesthetic means of exploring the wider experience of spirituality and all this may entail through the visionary imagining of contemporary artists. |
Date | 1951 |
Country | Australia |
Hosted by |
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Reward(s) | A$35,000 |
Highlights | |
Most awards | Eric Smith (six times) |
Inaugural winner | Justin O'Brien (1951) |
The prize was established in Sydney in 1949 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art. It was founded by R. Morley, the Reverend Michael Scott SJ, a Headmaster of Campion Hall, Point Piper, and subsequently Rector of Aquinas College, University of Adelaide, and lawyer M. Tenison. The Blake Prize is named after the artist and poet, William Blake. The inaugural Blake Prize was awarded in 1951 to Justin O'Brien.[3]
The Blake Exhibitions have been a regular travelling exhibition around Australia, visiting various major cities and provincial galleries.
The award of the Blake Prize to Charles Bannon in 1954 for his Judas Iscariot was one of the most controversial in its history; this opened controversy over what constituted religious art and over "abstract expressionism" which threatened to overwhelm the exhibition.
In 2008 the Blake Society established the Blake Poetry Prize to link art and literature and to give Australian poets new possibilities to explore the nature of spirituality in the 21st century. The Blake Poetry Prize is presented in association with Writing NSW.
The prize was administered by the Blake Society, in 2016 the Casula Powerhouse arts centre took over the prize now focuses on the broader spiritual arts rather than religious art.[4] Casula Powerhouse also administer the Blake Poetry Prize.
List of winners
Ordinal | Year | Winner(s) | Name of work(s) | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1951 | Justin O'Brien | The Virgin Enthroned | [3] | |||
2 | 1952 | Frank Hinder | Flight into Egypt | ||||
3 | 1953 | Michael Kmit | The Evangelist John Mark | ||||
4 | 1954 | Charles Bannon | Judas Iscariot | ||||
5 | 1955 | Donald Friend | St John and Scenes from the Apocalypse | ||||
6 | 1956 | Eric Smith | The Scourged Christ | ||||
7 | 1957 | Elwyn Lynn | Betrayal | ||||
8 | 1958 | Eric Smith | The Moment Christ Died | ||||
9 | 1959 | Eric Smith | Christ is Risen | ||||
10 | 1960 | John Coburn | Triptych of the Passion | ||||
11 | 1961 | Stanislaus Rapotec | Meditating on Good Friday | [3] | |||
12 | 1962 | Eric Smith | Eucharistic Landscape | ||||
13 | 1963 | Leonard French | Ancient Fragments | ||||
14 | 1964 | Michael Kitching | Last Supper-Premonition | [5] | |||
15 | 1965 | Asher Bilu | I Form Light and Create Darkness-Isaiah 45:7 | ||||
16 | 1966 | Rodney Milgate | Ascension | ||||
17 | 1967 | Desiderius Orban | Hosanna | ||||
18 | 1968 | Roger Kemp | The Cross | ||||
19 | 1969 | Eric Smith | The Assassin's Creed | ||||
20 | 1970 | Roger Kemp | Denial | ||||
Eric Smith | Christ's Flesh: Living, Suffering and Resurrected | ||||||
21 | 1971 | Desiderius Orban | Transition to Christianity | ||||
22 | 1972 | Joseph Szabo | Black Friday | ||||
23 | 1973 | Keith Looby | Your Motel Calvary Still Life Flowers | ||||
24 | 1974 | Stuart Maxwell | Christ at Emmaus | ||||
Ken Whisson | Tobias and the Angel | ||||||
25 | 1975 | Rodney Milgate | Thoughts on Holy Thursday | ||||
26 | 1976 | David Voigt | Blue Requiem | ||||
27 | 1977 | John Coburn | Hozanna | ||||
Rodney Milgate | Tree | ||||||
28 | 1978 | Noel Tunks | The First Friday Retreat | ||||
29 | 1979 |
| Roadside Altar Piece Comas | ||||
30 | 1980 | Leonard French | Instruments for a Drama Meditation | ||||
31 | 1981 | David Voigt | Meditation | ||||
32 | 1982 | Mary Anne Coutts | In Mockery of Christ | ||||
Suzie Marston | Sunday School Work Books | ||||||
33 | 1983 |
| The Offering | ||||
34 | 1984 | Mary Hall | The Spirit of God hovered brooding over the face of the waters | ||||
35 | 1985 | John Gould | Votives to Passion | ||||
36 | 1986 | Roger Akinin | The Day of Atonement, Scapegoat and Apostate | ||||
37 | 1987 | Ian Grant | The Monks Cloak | ||||
Alan Oldfield | A High and perpetual shewing of Christ's mother according to Julian of Norwich | ||||||
38 | 1988 | Lise Floistad | This sign is a hidden treasure which desires to be known | ||||
39 | 1989 | Warren Breninger | Hail Mary | ||||
40 | 1990 | Gillian Mann | The Chest | ||||
41 | 1991 | Alan Oldfield | Raft III | ||||
Rosemary Valadon | Before the Fall | ||||||
42 | 1992 | George Gittoes | Ancient Prayer | ||||
43 | 1993 | John Davis | Some Thoughts on a Miracle | ||||
44 | 1994 | Hilarie Mais | Veiling Silence | ||||
45 | 1995 | George Gittoes | The Preacher – Kibeho Massacre Series, Rwanda | ||||
46 | 1996 | Rachel Ellis | Woman at Jesus' feet | ||||
47 | 1997 | Thomas Spence | Christmas Day 1914 (God's Truce) | ||||
48 | 1998 | John Adair | One Dark Night (from St John of the Cross Poem Dark Night of the Soul) | ||||
− | 1999 | not awarded | |||||
49 | 2000 | Frances Belle Parker | The Journey | ||||
50 | 2001 | Lachlan Warner | Vitrine of lightweight (Sunyata), disposable (annica) Buddhas, in a range of festive colours, postures and mudras | ||||
51 | 2002 | Hilton McCormick | The Harvest | ||||
52 | 2003 | Shoufay Derz | Linking Back (Part 1) | ||||
53 | 2004 | AñA Wojak | Pieta (Dafur) | ||||
54 | 2005 | James Powditch | God is in the Details (Intelligent Design) | ||||
Louise Rippert | Dance | ||||||
55 | 2006 | Euan Macleod | Untitled Landscape with Figure | ||||
56 | 2007 | Shirley Purdie | Stations of the Cross | ||||
57 | 2008 | David Tucker | A Local Girl Comes Home | ||||
58 | 2009 | Angelica Mesiti | Rapture (silent anthem) | [6] | |||
59 | 2010 | Leonard Brown | If you put your ear close, you’ll hear it breathing | [7] | |||
60 | 2011 | Khaled Sabsabi | Naqshbandi Greenacre Engagement | [3] (3 channel video) | |||
61 | 2012 | Fabian Astore | The Threshold | [8] | |||
Eveline Kotai | Writing on air | ||||||
62 | 2013 | Trevor Nickolls | Metamorphosis | [9] | |||
63 | 2014 | Richard Lewer | Worse Luck I'm Still Here | [10] | |||
Changed to biennial award[1] | |||||||
64 | 2016 | Yardena Kurulkar | Kenosis 2015 | [11] | |||
65 | 2018 | Tina Havelock Stevens | Giant Rock | [12] | |||
66 | 2020 |
References
- "Blake Prize". Casula Powerhouse. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- Rebecca Somerville (November 2005). "Feature: Blake Prize". Contemporary. Australian Art Review. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
- McDonald, John (1 October 2011). "The 60th Blake Prize Exhibition". John McDonald. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- Centre, Casula Powerhouse Arts (1 January 2003). "The 64th Blake Prize". casulapowerhouse.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- "Blake Prize Winner – £500 Prize To Teacher". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 1964. p. 4. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
- "2009 Judges Comments – Blake Prize". Archived from the original on 8 September 2009.
- McDonald, John (20 September 2010). "The Blake Prize". John McDonald. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- "2012 Blake Prize Winners Announced". Art Almanac. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- "2013 Blake Prize Winners". Art Almanac. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- Collins, Antoinette (14 December 2014). "Artist Richard Lewer wins $25,000 Blake Prize for religious art as future of award in doubt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- Pitt, Helen (12 February 2016). "Artist Yardena Kurulkar named Blake Prize 2016 winner". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- McDonald, John (1 June 2018). "The Blake Prize 2018: Missing the mysterium tremendum". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2019.