Blake Prize

The Blake Prize is an Australian art prize which has been operating since 1951. It was awarded annually from 1951 to 2015, and from 2016 has been biennial.[1][2] The prize was established in Sydney in 1949 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art. Founded by R. Morley, the Reverend Michael Scott SJ (Headmaster of Campion Hall, Point Piper, and subsequently Rector of Aquinas College, University of Adelaide), and lawyer M. Tenison, it was named after the artist and poet William Blake. The first Blake Prize was won by Justin O'Brien in 1951.

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.[3] Casula Powerhouse also administer the Blake Poetry Prize.

List of winners
  • 1951 Justin O'Brien – The Virgin Enthroned[4] (1st Blake Prize)
  • 1952 Frank Hinder – Flight into Egypt
  • 1953 Michael Kmit – The Evangelist John Mark
  • 1954 Charles Bannon – Judas Iscariot
  • 1955 Donald Friend – St John and Scenes from the Apocalypse
  • 1956 Eric Smith – The Scourged Christ
  • 1957 Elwyn Lynn – Betrayal
  • 1958 Eric Smith – The Moment Christ Died
  • 1959 Eric Smith – Christ is Risen
  • 1960 John Coburn – Triptych of the Passion
  • 1961 Stanislaus Rapotec – Meditating on Good Friday[4]
  • 1962 Eric Smith – Eucharistic Landscape
  • 1963 Leonard French – Ancient Fragments
  • 1964 Michael Kitching – Last Supper-Premonition[5]
  • 1965 Asher Bilu – I Form Light and Create Darkness-Isaiah 45:7
  • 1966 Rodney Milgate – Ascension
  • 1967 Desiderius Orban – Hosanna
  • 1968 Roger Kemp – The Cross
  • 1969 Eric Smith – The Assassin's Creed
  • 1970 Roger Kemp – Denial &
    • Eric Smith – Christ's Flesh: Living, Suffering and Resurrected
  • 1971 Desiderius Orban – Transition to Christianity
  • 1972 Joseph Szabo – Black Friday
  • 1973 Keith Looby – Your Motel Calvary Still Life Flowers
  • 1974 Stuart Maxwell – Christ at Emmaus &
    • Ken Whisson – Tobias and the Angel
  • 1975 Rodney Milgate – Thoughts on Holy Thursday
  • 1976 David Voigt – Blue Requiem
  • 1977 John Coburn – Hozanna &
    • Rodney Milgate – Tree
  • 1978 Noel Tunks – The First Friday Retreat
  • 1979 Ian Gentle Alex Trompf – Roadside Altar Piece Comas
  • 1980 Leonard French – Instruments for a Drama Meditation
  • 1981 David Voigt – Meditation
  • 1982 Mary Anne Coutts – In Mockery of Christ &
    • Suzie Marston Sunday School Work Books
  • 1983 Geoffrey Harvey Ann Taylor – The Offering
  • 1984 Mary Hall – The Spirit of God hovered brooding over the face of the waters
  • 1985 John Gould – Votives to Passion
  • 1986 Roger Akinin – The Day of Atonement, Scapegoat and Apostate
  • 1987 lan Grant – The Monks Cloak &
    • Alan Oldfield – A High and perpetual shewing of Christ's mother according to Julian of Norwich
  • 1988 Lise Floistad – This sign is a hidden treasure which desires to be known
  • 1989 Warren Breninger – Hail Mary
  • 1990 Gillian Mann – The Chest
  • 1991 Alan Oldfield – Raft III & Rosemary Valadon – Before the Fall
  • 1992 George Gittoes – Ancient Prayer
  • 1993 John Davis – Some Thoughts on a Miracle
  • 1994 Hilarie Mais – Veiling Silence
  • 1995 George Gittoes – The Preacher – Kibeho Massacre Series, Rwanda
  • 1996 Rachel Ellis – Woman at Jesus' feet
  • 1997 Thomas Spence – Christmas Day 1914 (God's Truce)
  • 1998 John Adair – One Dark Night (from St John of the Cross Poem Dark Night of the Soul')
  • 2000 Frances Belle Parker – The Journey
  • 2001 Lachlan Warner – 'Vitrine of lightweight (Sunyata), disposable (annica) Buddhas, in a range of festive colours, postures and mudras
  • 2002 Hilton McCormick – The Harvest
  • 2003 Shoufay Derz – Linking Back (Part 1)
  • 2004 AñA Wojak – Pieta (Dafur)
  • 2005 James Powditch – God is in the Details (Intelligent Design)
  • 2005 Louise Rippert – Dance
  • 2006 Euan Macleod – Untitled Landscape with Figure
  • 2007 Shirley Purdie – Stations of the Cross
  • 2008 David Tucker – A Local Girl Comes Home
  • 2009 Angelica Mesiti – Rapture (silent anthem)[6] (58th Blake Prize)
  • 2010 Leonard Brown – If you put your ear close, you’ll hear it breathing[7] (59th Blake Prize)
  • 2011 Khaled Sabsabi – Naqshbandi Greenacre Engagement[4] (3 channel video) (60th Blake Prize)
  • 2012 Fabian Astore - The Threshold (61st Blake Prize joint winner)[8]
    • Eveline Kotai - Writing on air (61st Blake Prize joint winner)[8]
  • 2013 Trevor Nickolls – Metamorphosis[9] (62nd Blake Prize)
  • 2014 Richard Lewer – Worse Luck I'm Still Here[10] (63rd Blake Prize)
  • 2016 Yardena Kurulkar – Kenosis 2015[11] (64th Blake Prize)
  • 2018 Tina Havelock Stevens – Giant Rock[12] (65th Blake Prize)

See also
  • Phoenix Prize for spiritual art
  • Art of Australia

References
  1. Casula Powerhouse: Blake Prize. Retrieved 6 October 2019
  2. Rebecca Somerville (November 2005). "Feature: Blake Prize". Contemporary. Australian Art Review. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
  3. 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.
  4. McDonald, John (1 October 2011). "The 60th Blake Prize Exhibition". John McDonald. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  5. "Blake Prize Winner – £500 Prize To Teacher". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 1964. p. 4. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  6. "2009 Judges Comments – Blake Prize". Archived from the original on 8 September 2009.
  7. McDonald, John (20 September 2010). "The Blake Prize". John McDonald. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  8. "2012 Blake Prize Winners Announced". Art Almanac. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  9. "2013 Blake Prize Winners". Art Almanac. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  10. 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.
  11. Pitt, Helen (12 February 2016). "Artist Yardena Kurulkar named Blake Prize 2016 winner". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  12. McDonald, John (1 June 2018). "The Blake Prize 2018: Missing the mysterium tremendum". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.