Nike Savvas Curates 2018 Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize

Savvas selects 19 leading Australian contemporary artists to form the foundation of the exhibition at Sydney’s National Art School Gallery.

Nineteen of Australia’s most respected contemporary artists have been selected by internationally recognised contemporary artist and guest curator Nike Savvas to present work in the 2018 Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize at the National Art School Gallery in Sydney from 15 March until 12 May 2018.

The established artists selected to participate in the 22nd annual Prize by Nike Savvas – herself a highly respected Australian artist – include some of the country’s brightest contemporary art stars. Jenny Watson, an Australian representative at the 1993 Venice Biennale, acclaimed Aboriginal artist Richard Bell, and recipient of the 2016 Biennale of Sydney Legacy Artwork Agatha Gothe-Snape are amongst the artists.

2018 guest curator Nike Savvas commented on her selection of established artists: “I have selected artists whose practices evidence discriminating, uncompromising and highly individualist approaches to art making. In a cultural climate beset by hype, hits, corporatisation and swinging social agency, the next iteration of this exhibition titled Extreme Prejudice seeks to highlight the personal and critical imperatives that belie and drive such single-minded work.”

The selected established artists for 2018 are: Richard Bell, Vivienne Binns, Vicente Butron, Richard Dunn, Sarah Goffman, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Gail Hastings, Tim Johnson, Lindy Lee, Stephen Little, Hilarie Mais, Jonny Niesche, John Nixon, Rose Nolan, Kerrie Poliness, Elizabeth Pulie, Huseyin Sami, David Serisier and Jenny Watson.
All participating artists submit a single recent work to contend for one of two prizes. The main award for established artists is the Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize, valued at $25,000 and sponsored by Konica Minolta for the sixth consecutive year. The Emerging Artist Prize is valued at $10,000 and is sponsored by the Croll Real Estate.
2018 guest curator Nike Savvas added: “In 2018 the Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize will reflect on a range of material, perceptual, conceptual, political, strategic and subjective developmental approaches with which to address painting. Painting – both as a classifying term and a discipline, continues to provoke serious and pertinent questions about the foundations on which past and current conventions are based. It has the potential to question beliefs and, as history has shown, to alter paradigms. With such a diverse body of work and studio methodologies I believe this exhibition will present an opportunity both timely and rare for challenge and reflection.”

The Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize was established in 1996 by Redlands School and has been presented at the National Art School Gallery since 2012. Participating artists have no limitations on their choice of media or subject matter, however the Prize’s model requires each selected artist to nominate one emerging contemporary artist to participate in the exhibition. This pairing of established and emerging artists seeks to encourage mentoring relationships between different generations of artists.
The two winning artworks in the established and emerging categories will become part of Redlands School’s permanent art collection, providing a valuable resource for visual arts students and teachers. Over the past two decades Redlands School has built a unique and remarkable collection of major works by some of Australia’s most sought-after contemporary artists including past winners Diena Georgetti (2017), Pat Brassington (2016), Mikala Dwyer (2015), Vernon Ah Kee (2014), Callum Morton (2013), Ben Quilty (2012), Rodney Pople (2006), Lindy Lee (1998), Gordon Bennett (1997) and Imants Tillers (1996).

The 2018 Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize will be exhibited from 15 March until 12 May 2018 at the National Art School Gallery in Sydney’s Darlinghurst, with Prize winners to be awarded at an opening event at the Gallery presented on the evening of 21 March 2018.

The emerging artists participating in the 2018 Prize will be announced in February 2018.