Winner of Geelong Contemporary Art Prize announced

Diena Georgetti nabs the $30,000 acquisitive prize.

Words: Charlotte Middleton

Congratulations to Melbourne-based artist Diena Georgetti, announced as winner of the 2021 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize. The $30,000 acquisitive prize was awarded for her 2020 painting AMPERSAND, one of 28 finalists from over 600 original entries.

The selection panel included eminent art historians and curators, Jenepher Duncan and Grazia Gunn and Geelong Gallery Director Jason Smith, who were drawn to AMPERSAND for its conceptual poise and eloquent formal composition.

The painting extends Georgetti’s idiosyncratic approach to picture-making as she assembles and juxtaposes abstract images and references to art historical precedents, along with modernist aesthetics, including design and fashion. These reference points are drawn from books, archives and the internet, and function as Georgetti’s eclectic image-bank, but her sources remain elusive.

The 28 finalist works in the Geelong Contemporary Art Prize 2021 will be exhibited at Geelong Gallery Victoria, from 4 June to 22 August 2021.

Image: Diena Georgetti, AMPERSAND, 2020. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, custom frame. Geelong Gallery, Geelong Contemporary Art Prize (winner), 2021. Image courtesy: the artist and The Commercial, Sydney.

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