The 42nd Alice Prize – 2022
Congratulations Adrian Jangala Robertson , winner of The Alice Prize
2022 Winner Family in Yalpirakinu by Adrian Jangala Robertson
Adrian Jangala Robertson joined the Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists in 2002. He is a painter who predominantly uses a restricted palette. He is a deliberate and thoughtful painter; reworking, pushing, and pulling the artwork to completion. His work consistently refers to his family and the desert mountains, ridges and trees which are part of his mother, Eunice Napangardi’s country, Yalpirakinu.
Adrian continues to push his art, experimenting with new mediums and techniques. Adrian captures his country and family members through brushwork that is loaded with energy, drama, and memories.
2022 People’s Choice Award – Asymmetrical Multipolarity Sunset by Glen Clarke
“Click here to view the entry on the exhibition web site
“I am looking for a succinct Art Form without the superfluous imagery and decoys of aestheticism and composition. In Zen Buddhism, an ensō (円相 , “circle” ) is hand-drawn in one uninhibited brushstroke to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create. The ensō symbolizes absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe, and mu, the void. A recent tour of the Silk Road across China allowed constant sightings and influences from numerous museum Mandalas along with regular roadside images of military hardware in waiting. I dreamt of a glorious sunset radiating with symbolism of every nation on our planet in harmony. This ethereal musing was quickly grounded, awakened by the reality of mans greed, hunger, and fascination with power.”
The Alice Prize
The Alice Prize is an acquisitive national contemporary art prize, welcoming entries from around Australia, in any medium or theme.
Significant among regional art prizes, The Alice Prize contributes to one of the largest regional collections of Australian art, with works by leading artists from across its near 50 year history.
Coordinated by the Alice Springs Art Foundation, The Alice Prize is judged by an expert selection panel and judge of national standing, with national exposure for exhibiting artists and the opportunity to show in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, the cultural heart of Australia.
Alice Springs Art Foundation
Celebrating 50 years
The Alice Prize and the Alice Springs Art Foundation were set up in 1970 to bring contemporary art from across Australia to Alice Springs for the benefit of its isolated, arts-hungry residents. The first exhibition was held on 3 October 1970.
Important Dates
Entries Have Closed
531 entries werre received and 58 finalists invited to exhibit their works.
Announcement of the Winner
Friday 8 April, 2022 at 6.00 pm
Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
Congratulations Adrian Robertson, winner of The Alice Prize 2022
Exhibition Dates
The exhibition at Araluen Arts Centre is now closed. It was held from
Saturday 9 April – Sunday 5 June 2022
The online exhibition remains available at www.aliceprize.com/2022
Exhibition
The exhibition of finalists is now closed. It was open to the public at the Araluen Arts Centre from 9 April 2022 – 5 June 2022
The biennial acquisitive Prize is based at the Araluen Arts Centre, which was built in 1984 after energetic lobbying from the Art Foundation and others wanting a more distinguished venue and a professional storage facility for the growing Central Australian arts collections.
The Alice Prize collection is a notable part of the Araluen collection and is drawn on frequently for exhibitions.
The following artists were selected as finalists for The Alice Prize 2022
Giles Alexander
Puruntatameri Alison
Avi Amesbury
Glenn Barkley
Yvonne Boag
Denise Brady
Gretel Bull
Jane Burton Taylor
Evangeline Cachinero
Echo Cai
Glen Clarke
Hannah Cooper
Nici Cumpston
Madeleine Joy Dawes
Fiona Foley
Claire Freer
Joe Guymala
James Hale
Lizzie Hall
Ellie Hannon
Nathalie Hartog-Gautier
Naomi Howard
Charles Inkamala
Symone Ishak
Winsome Jobling
Lauren Joffe
Kerry Johns
Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger
Kieren Karritpul
Stuart Keech
Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello
Billy Kenda
Sarrita King
Chris Lawry-Noke
Tepomitari Lidwina ( Nina)
Sue Lovegrove
Pip McManus
Anne Morris
VR Morrison
Rod Moss
Sarah Mufford
Sally M Nangala Mulda
Sally Mumford
Glen Namundja
Lori Pensini
Christine Puruntatameri
Paulina (Jedda) Puruntatameri
Thecla Bernadette Puruntatameri
Therese Ritchie
Adrian Robertson (winner)
Brian Robinson
Phillip Rolton
Gayle Stockley
Neridah Stockley
Jenny Taylor
Simplicia Tipungwuti
Linda Wachtel
Keturah Zimran
Judge – Lara Merrington
Lara has over ten years’ experience working in the visual arts across diverse sectors such as non-for-profit, local council, University and independently run museums and galleries. She holds particular interest in contemporary art, design, ceramics and photography. Lara also has extensive experience collaborating with arts festivals, exhibitions and projects around Australia and internationally including curatorial residencies in Peru, Argentina and Colombia and Berlin.
In 2019 she was selected as an Exhibitions Team Leader at the Australia Pavilion for the 58th Venice Biennale. In the same year she received the Cross Family fellowship for overseas professional development, administered by the Australia Council for the Arts. Currently she is Curator at Snøhetta, Australasia. Previously she has held positions such as Curator at SAM; Shepparton Art Museum (VIC), Assistant Curator at JamFactory: Art, Craft + Design (SA), and Manager and Curator at SAVVY Contemporary; Berlin.
Lara holds a Graduate Certificate in Art History and Curatorial Studies from the University of Adelaide (2018), a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Hons.) specialising in Photography from the University of South Australia (2008), an Associate degree in Languages and Cultural studies from University of South Australia, and a certificate of Exhibition Design from NODE centre for curatorial studies, Berlin (2017).
Selection Panel
The selection panel has completed the difficult task of selecting 58 finalists from a field of 531 entries. The Alice Springs Art Foundation thanks Alison Alder, Lucy Stewart and Vincent Fantauzzo for their valuable contribution.
Alison is a visual artist whose work blurs the line between studio, community and social/political art practice. Primarily known for her political screen prints, Alison also uses animation, video and installations to make her point.
Alison’s work has been exhibited in several key Australian exhibitions including, amongst others, Know My Name at the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), Making It New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney) and See You at the Barricades at the Art Gallery of NSW. She has won numerous awards and prizes including the Alice Prize in 2010.
Alison’s work is held in major Australian public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, most State galleries, numerous regional galleries, including the Alice Springs collection, and many private collections, like, for example, the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art. In the USA her work is held in the collections of the Centre for the Study of Political Graphics, the Interference Archive and the New York Public Library Print Collection.
Alison is an Honorary Associate Professor at the Australian National University, School of Art and Design after retiring from her position as head of the Printmedia and Drawing Workshop. She is currently researching and developing a series of artworks which reflect on Australia’s democratic processes and history, assisted by the Australian Parliament House Library through a Parliamentary Library Associateship.
Award winning artist Vincent Fantauzzo is world renowned for his adept skill in portraiture and photography.
Mostly recognised for traditional portraiture, in painting and sculpture work. His portraits are painted with contrasting elements of light; they show much dignity, nobleness and focus on the more human and inner essence of his sitter’s character. They also draw on cinema and photography to create a narrative in the Grand Manner, a style derived from the classical art of the Renaissance.
His growing body of work has been exhibited internationally with shows in India, Vietnam, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Australia. In 2011, he won the prestigious Doug Moran Portrait Prize for his moving depiction of Baz Luhrmann. He painted thirty portraits in thirty days in Hong Kong, New York and Australia, and has painted murals on walls in many countries around the world.
His most recent work of actor Hugh Jackman was commissioned and acquired by the National Portrait Gallery of Australia.
He has won the Packing Room prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and been awarded the Archibald People’s Choice more than any other artist.
Lucy first came to Alice Springs in 1996 to work as the Visual Arts Coordinator at the Araluen Arts Centre, since then she has held arts coordination / management roles in the NT and in Tasmania, including with Arts NT, Tasmanian Regional Arts and RedHot Arts. Her arts board experience includes Regional Arts Australia, Watch This Space ARI and RedHOT Arts Central Australia, where she is currently the Vice Chair and a member of the Alice Desert Festival’s 2021 Programing Committee. In 2009, Lucy gave up her full time day job driving an arts desk and went back to school where she re-trained as a teacher. Working at the town’s only public senior college, she is now an Assistant Principal, arts senior and a year 12 arts / media teacher.
For over 20 years, she has coordinated arts projects that support increased awareness of Mparntwe sacred sites. Most significantly through the development of the Yeperenye Sculpture and the Alice to Mparntwe Sacred Sites Tours for Artists that have been running since 2007, coordinated with fellow artist Dan Murphy and senior custodian Doris Stuart Kngwarreye. Two major group exhibitions have been curated from these tours, at Araluen in 2010 & Watch This Space in 2017. In 2020, Lucy embarked on her next journey undertaking a creative PhD focused on custodian storytelling as a tool for arts based social action; her project seeks to extend the creative impact of the Alice to Mparntwe tours.
My passion is making a contribution to building creative communities in regional areas whilst working within culturally rich settings. My employment experience includes coordination and training roles in community, education and the arts sectors. This expertise has focused on developing creative public engagements through collaborative organisational partnerships. The outcomes have been festivals, public art, forums, exhibitions and tours. Reflective practice, mentoring and longitudinal thinking are key elements of my practice. My strengths include project leadership, advocacy, and administration, collaborating in team environments, and the development of specialist story telling / research / marketing and educational resources.
Get all the latest news and updates from The Alice Prize – sign up to our mailing list.
