Fletcher Jones art prize

The Fletcher Jones art prize is a biennial event that continues the tradition of the Geelong contemporary art prize that was initiated by the Geelong Art Gallery Foundation in 1996. This is an acquisitive painting prize, conducted by the Geelong Gallery. The $30,000 prize money is generously sponsored by Fletcher Jones.



Nadine Christensen, Untitled (Tiled floor), 2008, acrylic on board
Reproduced courtesy of the artist and Uplands Gallery, Melbourne

2008 Fletcher Jones art prize

The 2008 Fletcher Jones art prize was awarded to Nadine Christensen for her work, Untitled (Tiled floor). Christensen's superbly executed work, brings together seemingly unconnected items — a light fitting on a wrought iron base, a video recorder, monitor, feathers, twine, domestic dog and wolf — that are positioned on an angled floor of decorative tiles. Untitled (Tiled floor) explores the relationship between nature and artifice, old and new, real and illusionary, as well as notions of redundancy in a materialistic and technological age. Christensen aims to achieve maximum flatness in the work: in the choice of board as the painting's support, the meticulous application of the paint layers and in the removal of pictorial depth in the carefully arranged composition.


Sam Leach, Peacock going up, 2006, oil on linen

2006 Fletcher Jones art prize

Melbourne artist Sam Leach was awarded the 2006 Fletcher Jones art prize with his work, Peacock going up. Leach's superbly executed work, reminiscent of a Dutch still-life painting, depicts a limp, white peacock hanging above an elevator door. Within the dark background, the subtle addition of an LED display panel of an ascending arrow, acts as a visual pun: the lifeless bird will not ascend as the title of the painting suggests. Presented in the manner of a 17th century vanitas image, the usually ostentatious peacock reminds us of the transience of life, while its placement in a modern corporate setting addresses the temporary status of material wealth.




Juan Ford, Painting, phrenology (Abstraction#8), 2004, oil on canvas

2004 Fletcher Jones art prize

Juan Ford's large, photo-realistic portrait suggests the isolation of the individual in a modern technological age. The reference to phrenology, (the theory that one's mental powers are indicated by the shape of the skull) provides an insight into Ford's concern with our biotechnological future. The artists considers this painting to be about our heads as 'vessels which carry our stories in them'.




Ann Thomson, Change takes time, 2002, oil on canvas

2002 Geelong contemporary art prize

A rich and energetic abstract painting, Ann Thomson's work, Change takes time, provides balance and harmony within a chaotic application of colour and texture. Art reviewer, Robert Nelson, referred to the work as "impetuous, instinctive and spontaneous" in his review of the 2002 exhibition.



John Young, The inner guide, 2000, digital scan and oil on canvas

2000 Geelong contemporary art prize

When accepting the prize on behalf of John Young (who was in Tokyo), his Melbourne dealer Anna Schwartz said:"The inner guide has a superimposed image of a figure over a larger surface of thin layers of paint, juxtaposing the idea of billboards and new technologies. These allude to the personal inner guide in relation to new technologies and our individual relationship to the world."