{"id":3396,"date":"2019-08-02T14:05:38","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T14:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=3396"},"modified":"2019-08-02T14:05:38","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T14:05:38","slug":"blak-douglas-wins-50000-kilgour-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2019\/08\/02\/blak-douglas-wins-50000-kilgour-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"Blak Douglas wins $50,000 Kilgour Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\nA social justice metaphor couched in a striking graphic design has taken out the prestigious 2019 Kilgour Prize.
\nNewcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes announced Sydney-based artist Blak Douglas as the winner of the annual award for figurative and portrait painting during the launch of the exhibition at Newcastle Art Gallery tonight.
\n\"Kilgour_Prize_2019-_Blak_Douglas_1.jpg\"
\nThe Kilgour Prize is one of Australia\u2019s most lucrative art prizes and includes $50,000 for the winning artist, as well as a $5,000 People’s Choice Award.
\nIt is administered by Newcastle Art Gallery and funded via a bequest from Australian artist Jack Noel Kilgour, administered by The Trust Company, Part of Perpetual.
\nThe Lord Mayor said the City of Newcastle was honoured to be the home of such an esteemed national prize.
\n\u201cNow in its ninth year, the reputation of the Kilgour Prize continues to grow, attracting a large number of entrants and a significant audience to the gallery,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cThe breadth and depth of artistic talent on show in this year\u2019s Prize is truly impressive, with the diversity and quality of the entries reaching new heights each year.
\n\u201cI congratulate Blak Douglas on joining a prestigious list of accomplished artists to have taken out the Kilgour Prize.\u201d
\nChosen from among hundreds of entries and 30 finalists, the compelling 1.5m square portrait of Australian actress and singer Ursula Yovich \u2013 \u2018Queen of her own stage\u2019 – impressed the panel of three judges with its powerful composition and striking style.
\nThe 2019 prize was judged by Lauretta Morton, Director, Newcastle Art Gallery, Jon Cattapan, Artist and Director of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) at University of Melbourne and Michael Dagostino, Director Campbelltown Arts Centre.
\nMs Morton said the Kilgour Prize encourages Australian artists to pursue – and push the boundaries of – portraiture and figurative painting.
\nThe judges noted a striking range of subject matter and styles within this year’s entries.
\nThe selected works came from every State and Territory of Australia, with the artists ranging in age from 22 to 70 years. Four local artists (Nigel Milsom, Peter Gardiner, Michael Bell and Leeroy Chapman) were among those who made the final cut.
\n\u201cThis year\u2019s 30 finalists are perhaps the strongest and most interesting entries we\u2019ve had in the history of the Kilgour Prize,\u201d Ms Morton said.
\n\"Kilgour_Prize_2019-_Blak_Douglas_2.jpg\"
\nBorn in Blacktown, Western Sydney in 1970, Douglas originally trained in illustration and photography before becoming a self\u2013taught painter with a social justice-inspired style influenced by the study of graphic design.
\nHe said he had always wanted to paint a portrait of his friend Yovich, a proud Larrakia woman from Darwin who is currently performing her Helpmann Award-winning show\u00a0Barbara and the Camp Dogs<\/em>\u00a0at Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney.
\n\u201cMy dear friend Ursula Yovich, actress and songstress dynamo, has always been on my list of subjects to paint,\u201d Douglas said.
\n\u201cThis painting is all about her and is a metaphor for the female black voice. I asked Ursula to stand upon a chair for the pose because I saw it as a metaphor for Aboriginal voices to be heard.\u201d
\nThe KILGOUR PRIZE 2019 exhibition showcases the 30 finalists and is on at Newcastle Art Gallery from 3 August to 13 October 2019.
\nPeople’s Choice Award<\/strong>
\nIn addition to the overall prize, the KILGOUR PRIZE 2019 competition includes a People\u2019s Choice Award of $5,000. Visitors can vote for the People\u2019s Choice Award at the Gallery until 5pm Wednesday 18 September 2019. The winner will be announced Monday 23 September 2019.
\nMore information on the current year’s exhibition:<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/nag.org.au\/Exhibitions<\/a>
\nKilgour Prize FAQs, history and information about Jack Noel Kilgour:<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/nag.org.au\/Kilgour-Prize<\/a>
\nKilgour Prize 2019 finalists:<\/strong>
\nPeter Barker, Anthony Bartok, Michael Bell, Eva Beltran, Karen Black, Leeroy Chapman, Tamara Dean, Blak Douglas, David Fairbairn, Sebastian Galloway, Peter Gardiner, Ben Gavin, Craig Handley, Jacqueline Hennessy, Tom Keukenmeester, Richard Lewer, Michael Lindeman, Robert Malherbe, Marie Mansfield, Si\u00e2n McNabney, Joshua McPherson, Nigel Milsom, Lori Pensini, Stephen Pleban, Jordan Richardson, Melissa Ritchie, Jenny Rodgerson, Paul Ryan, Nick Santoro.\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A social justice metaphor couched in a striking graphic design has taken out the prestigious 2019 Kilgour Prize. Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes announced Sydney-based artist Blak Douglas as the winner of the annual award for figurative and portrait painting during the launch of the exhibition at Newcastle Art Gallery tonight. The Kilgour Prize is … Continue reading “Blak Douglas wins $50,000 Kilgour Prize”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}