Sydney Contemporary names 2026 MA Art Prize finalists

Delivered in partnership with Principal Partner MA Financial Group, the acquisitive prize has grown again this year, rising to $25,000. It will be awarded to a single early-career artist showing at the fair, with the winner drawn from the finalist list and announced later this month.

The 2026 finalists are Melbourne-based photographer Alex Walker, showing with Void_Melbourne (Melbourne/Naarm); Yolŋu artist Binygurr Wirrpanda, showing with Alcaston Gallery (Melbourne/Naarm); Sydney-based multidisciplinary artist Jackson Farley, showing with NO FANTASY (Melbourne/Naarm); Melbourne-based artist Rebecca Diele, showing with The Renshaws’ (Brisbane/Meanjin and Sydney/Gadigal Country); and Australian-born, New York-based painter Renée Estée, showing with COMA (Sydney/Gadigal Country).

Now in its fourth consecutive year, the MA Art Prize was established to celebrate and champion emerging and early-career artists exhibiting at the fair. This year’s finalists were chosen by a judging panel comprising Andrew Martin, Managing Director and Head of Asset Management at MA Financial Group; Amelia Hill, Senior Advisor at MA Financial Group; Jarrod Rawlins, Director of Curatorial Affairs at MONA; Sue Cato AM, Principal at Cato Counsel; and Alison Kubler 2026 MA Art Prize Panel Chair.

“The calibre of entries for this year’s MA Art Prize has been exceptional, with a record number of submissions reflecting the strength, diversity and ambition of Australia’s emerging and early-career artists,” Martin said. “At MA Financial, we are proud to support the next generation of Australian artists through the MA Art Prize and our partnership with Sydney Contemporary. We believe investing in the arts helps foster a vibrant cultural landscape, while creating meaningful opportunities for artists to gain recognition, connect with new audiences and advance their careers.”

Since launching in 2023, the MA Art Prize has built a reputation for identifying artists on the cusp of wider recognition. All three past winners sold out their booths at the fair in the years they won, and each has continued to build momentum.

Last year’s recipient, Juanita McLauchlan — a Gamilaraay artist living on Wiradjuri Country in Wagga Wagga — won for Mandaymanday / String of Stars, a large-scale contact print drawing on her Gamilaraay identity, history and language, shown with CASSANDRA BIRD.

Corban Clause Williams, a Manyjilyjarra artist from the Pilbara, took the inaugural prize in 2023 while showing with EG Projects in the fair’s Futures sector. He has since staged two further sell-out shows, secured a new projection commission for Parrtjima Festival 2026 and released a limited-edition frame range with Specsavers nationally. Most recently he was named one of only six recipients of the inaugural Creative WA Fellowship, beginning a twelve-month development period in 2026 that will culminate in an international presentation of new work in 2027.

Alfred Lowe, an Arrernte artist working at APY Studio in Adelaide, won in 2024 for his large-scale hand-built stoneware vessel All Dressed Up I, showing with SABBIA. He has since won the $40,000 RIGG Design Prize at the National Gallery of Victoria, been named a finalist in both the Ramsay Art Prize and the Wynne Prize, and presented a sold-out solo exhibition, After-Party, at SABBIA. This September he returns to Sydney Contemporary with SABBIA for a presentation of new sculptural work, The Stars are Blind.

The tenth-anniversary edition also expands the fair’s program of partner activations across the fair floor, the Collector Lounge and the wider city.

Chief among them is Art + Dine, a new series supported by Destination NSW that carries the conversations sparked at Carriageworks into Sydney’s bars and restaurants. The program pairs artists with writers, curators and gallerists over food and drink in a dedicated In Conversation series, alongside a bespoke cocktail collaboration. Saison Aperitifs has created drinks inspired by the work of Reko Rennie, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Joan Ross and Michael Zavros, while Four Pillars Gin has worked with Tom Polo on a cocktail and Nell on a native-ingredient mocktail, served at the fair and at participating venues across Sydney Art Week.

In Conversation sessions will run at partner hotels The Ace Hotel Sydney, The EVE Hotel and Capella Sydney through late August and early September, with line-ups including Nell and Tom Polo in conversation with the Australian Financial Review‘s Stephen Todd, an evening with Reko Rennie, and Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran in conversation with writer and broadcaster Benjamin Law.

Elsewhere, hospitality partners include Pommery, Four Pillars, Yalumba — reimagining bespoke magnums of its flagship Signature blend as collectible works with Futures-sector artists — and newcomers Saison Aperitifs and ST. ALi, the latter serving evening espresso martinis in a takeaway cup designed with Mechelle Bounpraseuth. Creative activations round out the offering, from Polestar’s debut of the Polestar 5 alongside a design-materiality panel to a Chanel Fragrance Discovery Bar in the Collector Lounge.

“The MA Art Prize has become one of the highlights of our calendar, and reflects just how much conviction MA Financial Group has in the early-career artists coming through the fair,” said Sydney Contemporary Fair Director Zoe Paulsen. “As we celebrate our tenth anniversary, we’re also proud to expand that spirit of discovery beyond the fair floor through Art + Dine with Destination NSW, and with the continued support of our partners who each bring their own way of connecting audiences with contemporary art and culture.”

Sydney Contemporary 2026 runs at Carriageworks, Sydney/Gadigal Country, from 3 to 6 September, and is supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and events agency, Destination NSW.

Image: Jackson Farley,big things, clive, ned, ned on horse, star wars, brett, margaret, my uncle’s car, fancy soap, slappy machines, the libs nuclear station finally built, kangaroos, an afl ball, aukus sub, that airline that went bust that my late grandfather had heaps of unused voucher points to and an emu with cockatoos also, 2026, Digital collage, woven jacquard tapestry, custom frame, 3-d printed footing, 173 x 315 cm. Courtesy THIS IS NO FANTASY.