Copyright Agency members among winners of prestigious Australian art prizes
June 11, 2024
Kurrajong-based artist Laura Jones has won the 2024 Archibald Prize for her portrait of Australian writer Tim Winton.
The announcement was made at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Friday, after the winning piece was chosen from 1,005 entries and 57 finalists. The Archibald, which has been running since 1921, is the most coveted award in Australia with a $100,000 prize.
Jones, Copyright Agency member and participant in the Resale Royalty Scheme, first met Winton in 2017 after meeting at an environmental advocacy event.
The 12th woman to win the prize, Jones said ‘I hope this win encourages more young girls to pursue a career in the art world. As a little girl in Kurrajong, I dreamed about being an artist. More than any other event, today shows I wasn’t completely crazy.’
The ceremony last week also saw the announcement of the Sulman and Wynne Prizes. Pitjantjatjara artist Naomi Kantjuriny won the $40,000 Sulman Prize for genre, subject and mural painting for her work Minyma mamu tjuta. In the work, she depicts mamu – good and bad spirits that come in different forms.
Kantjuriny works at Tjala Arts, an arts centre in Amata, through which she is a Copyright Agency Member.
Artist Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu won the $50,000 Wynne prize for landscape painting and figurative sculpture for her painting Nyalala gurmilili. The Yolŋu elder based in Yirrkala painted with natural pigments on bark to depict miwatj, or “sunrise side” in Yolŋu Matha.
At the start of the month, Victorian artist Matt Adnate was awarded the Packing Room Prize for his portrait of Indigenous rapper Baker Boy. Matt is a participant of the Resale Royalty Scheme.
Many congratulations to our members and all the finalists!
The 138 finalists for the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of New South Wales between 8 June to 8 September. For further information, including the complete list of prize winners, visit the Art Gallery of New South Wales website.