Finalists announced for the Ramsay Art Prize 2021

24 finalists have been selected from more than 350 entries for the Ramsay Art Prize 2021, a biennial $100,000 acquisitive art prize presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia and supported by the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation. The Ramsay Art Prize is open to submissions from Australian artists under the age of 40 working in any medium. The aim of the prize is to encourage growth in Australian artists at a pivotal moment in their career.

“We are thrilled to present contemporary talent from every state and territory for the first time in the third iteration of the Ramsay Art Prize,” says AGSA Director, Rhana Devenport ONZM.

The three judges who selected the finalists are Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens, Dr Daniel Mudie Cunningham, Director of Programs at Carriageworks and Rebecca Evans, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design at AGSA.

All works selected as finalists will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of South Australia from 22 May until 22 August. The winner will be judged from the exhibition and announced at a media preview on Friday 21 May. The People’s Choice Prize supported by Lipman Karas is a non-acquisitive cash prize of $15,000 chosen by a public vote and announced on Friday 13 August 2021.

The 2021 finalists are:

Hoda Afshar (VIC), Cigdem Aydemir (NSW), Ella Barclay (ACT), Nathan Beard (WA), Kate Bohunnis (SA), Sam Cranstoun (QLD), Dean Cross (NSW), Zaachariaha Fielding (SA), Liam Fleming (SA), Julia Gutman (NSW), Solomon Kammer (SA), Kieren Karritpul (NT), Juanella McKenzie (SA), Daniel McKewen (QLD), Alasdair McLuckie (VIC), Hayley Millar Baker (VIC), Nabilah Nordin (VIC), Tom O’Hern (TAS), Tom Polo (NSW), Anna Madeleine Raupach (ACT), Anna Louise Richardson (WA), Lisa Sammut (ACT), Nicola Smith (NSW), Kasia Tons (SA).

Image: Ella Barclay, Dense Bodies and Unknown Systems, 2020. Projected looped video with sound, 4.30 minutes, acrylic, water, electronics, aluminium, steel. Courtesy: the artist.