The National Portrait Gallery recently announced the finalists for the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2013. The National Portrait Gallery Chairman Dr Helen Nugent AO and interim Chief Executive Ms Jenny Bott AO invite the media to the announcement of the winner of the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2013 and to preview the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery at 11.00am on Thursday 5 September.
The artist judged to have made the most outstanding screen-based digital portrait will receive a $10,000 cash prize. The finalists are Brett Walker, Untitled 2013 (Vic, b.1988); Frazer Bull-Clark, Leaving Lost 2013 (NSW, b.1980); Nara Peek-Silva, Untag me! 2013 (NSW, b.1989); Nik Lee, Our only concern is the void 2013 (Tas, b.1994); Stella Rosa McDonald Self Titled, 2013 (NSW, b.1984) and Phuong Thai Hoang Ngo, My Dad the people smuggler 2013 (Vic, b.1983). Both a prize and an exhibition of contemporary digital portraiture, the award reflects the Macquarie Group Foundation’s generous support, having committed $25,000 to the project each year for three years.
Now in its second year, the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award seeks to extend traditional notions of portraiture to the digital realm for emerging artists between the ages of 18 and 30. The award highlights the Gallery’s commitment to regular engagement with screen-based narratives and digital technology.
The recipient of the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2013 will be given the opportunity to undertake a multifaceted professional development program in Brisbane at the State Library of Queensland’s The Edge, who will provide access to sophisticated technologies and well-connected online communities, with creative feedback from the Institute of Modern Art (IMA), one of Australia’s leading centres for the development and presentation of contemporary art, and professional mentorship on media art from Media Arts Asia Pacific (MAAP).
Judges for the 2013 award were National Portrait Gallery Senior Curator Dr Christopher Chapman; Director, Media Art Asia Pacific Kim Machan and the Gallery’s online manager, Gillian Raymond.
The Gallery continues to showcase high-quality artworks created in new and increasingly relevant media following the success of online exhibitions, döppelganger (2009) and Animated (2007) and iD:Digital Portraiture Award (2012). By extending the experience of the works online, the Award demonstrates the outreach potential of digital art to regional Australia and reinforces the Gallery’s commitment to the 18-30 age group.
The Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2013 will be displayed at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 September to 13 November 2013.
Media Preview Thursday 5 September, 11.00am
National Portrait Gallery, King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Tim Langford, Marketing and Media
T. 02 6102 7080
M. 0408 616 937
E. tim.langford@npg.gov.au
