The Fletcher Jones art prize is an acquisitive painting prize, conducted by the Geelong Gallery on a biennial basis. The 'prize' continues the tradition of the Geelong contemporary art prize (initiated by the Geelong Art Gallery Foundation in 1996). The $30,000 prize money is generously sponsored by Fletcher Jones.
2010 Fletcher Jones art prize
Melbourne artist Tim McMonagle has been awarded Geelong Gallery's
2010 Fletcher Jones art prize.
The announcement of the prize-winning work, The happy song, was made by Fenella Kernebone, Presenter, ABC TV's Art Nation at the opening of the exhibition on Friday 23 July, 6.00-8.00pm.
To review the conditions of entry for the biennial Fletcher Jones art prize, download an entry form for the 2010 prize here - 2010 Fletcher Jones art prize entry form
2010 Fletcher Jones art prize
Inspired by the languid demeanour of a homeless woman observed by the artist while on a residency in New York in 2008-09, Tim McMonagle's painting The happy song depicts a dishevelled, barefoot figure reclining on a vast and bulbous mound representing her worldly possessions. Discarded high heel shoes and a plastic drinking cup are positioned in the foreground: symbols of the consumer culture from which she is seemingly displaced. Reminiscent of the social satire of 18th and early-19th century British artists such as William Hogarth, Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray, McMonagle's ‘dream-like' composition offers a contemporary parallel to the social commentaries of these earlier artists. Using the square format that has become a signature of the artist's practice, the work is rendered in a severe mono-tonal palette, the sepia tint emphasising McMonagle's strong drafting skills. Thick impastoed paint, juxtaposed with light, almost scumbled passages test the possibilities of the oil medium.
2008 Fletcher Jones art prize
Nadine Christensen was awarded the 2008 Fletcher Jones art prize for her work, Untitled (Tiled floor) (2008). Christensen’s meticulously painted 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.
2006 Fletcher Jones art prize
Melbourne artist Sam Leach was awarded the 2006 Fletcher Jones art prize for his work, Peacock going up (2006). 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 'go up' 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.
2004 Fletcher Jones art prize
Juan Ford's Painting, phrenology (Abstraction) (2004) was awarded the 2004 Fletcher Jones art prize. The artist's large, photo-realistic portrait suggests the isolation of the individual in a modern technological age. The reference to phrenology (the theory that a person's character and mental ability are indicated by the shape and size of the skull) provides an insight into Ford's concern with our biotechnological future. According to the artist, the painted head represents the 'vessels which carry our stories in them'.
2002 Geelong contemporary art prize
A rich and energetic abstract painting, Ann Thomson's work, Change takes time (2002), was awarded the 2002 Geelong contemporary art prize. The painting provides balance and harmony within a chaotic application of colour and texture. Art critic, Robert Nelson, referred to the work as ‘impetuous, instinctive and spontaneous’ in his review of the 2002 exhibition.
2000 Geelong contemporary art prize
The 2000 Geelong contemporary art prize was awarded to John Young for his painting The inner guide (2000). When accepting the prize on behalf of the artist, 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.’