NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship 2021 Finalists announced

Artspace, Create NSW and the National Art School (NAS) in Sydney have announced the seven finalists for the 2021 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship (NSW VAEF): Eddie Abd, Chun Yin Rainbow Chan, Cindy Yuen-Zhe Chen, Joe Wilson and Chanelle Collier, Emily Parsons-Lord, and Genevieve Felix Reynolds.

This edition of the Fellowship will, for the first time, be presented in partnership with NAS and exhibited at the NAS Gallery in Darlinghurst, while Artspace’s home at The Gunnery undergoes redevelopment.

NAS Gallery Coordinator, Scott Elliot, will join Artspace’s Alexie Glass-Kantor and Elyse Goldfinch to develop the Fellowship exhibition.

Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions across NSW, the exhibition of work by this year’s finalists will be presented at NAS in 2022, with the Fellowship returning to Artspace from 2023.

NSW VAEF has evolved over the past 100 years into a key exhibition for profiling the dynamism and breadth of emerging contemporary artistic practice in NSW. Valued at $30,000, the Fellowship is offered by the NSW Government through Create NSW to enable an early-career visual artist to undertake a self-directed program of professional development.

Each year, Create NSW convenes a judging panel of esteemed industry professionals to select the finalists, bringing expertise and passion to assess the highly competitive round of proposals.

The curators said: “Artspace and the National Art School are thrilled to be working together to curate the NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship at the NAS Gallery in 2022. Alongside our collaborators at Create NSW, we share a commitment to supporting generations of emerging artists and we are thrilled to present this important award.

The outstanding finalists represent the vibrant and diverse artistic community across NSW. As a curatorium we will offer professional development through curatorial advocacy and engagement, building upon relationships to bring artists, ideas and audiences together for this highly anticipated exhibition.

While the world continues to be disrupted by COVID-19 we look forward to being able to celebrate the practices of these seven emerging artists. We warmly congratulate all the finalists and look forward to welcoming audiences to the NAS Gallery in 2022.”

This article was originally published 20 August 2021.

Image: NSW VAEF 2021 Finalists.