The judging panel for this year’s Copyright Agency | Viscopy John Fries Award draws together a respected group of award-winning artists and arts professionals, lending significant gravitas to the $10,000 award for emerging and early-career artists.
The award is now open for entries until 5 May and will be announced on 12 August at the award’s new venue partner, Galleries UNSW, COFA.
The judging panel is:
- Alexie Glass-Kantor – Executive Director of Artspace in Sydney and Board member of the National Association for the Visual Arts. Alexie has curated widely, collaborating on more than 50 exhibitions internationally. She was the Director-Senior Curator at Gertrude Contemporary in Melbourne and she has worked at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image as well as other museums, independent spaces and festivals. Alexie has also received research and development grants from the Gordon Darling Foundation, Ian Potter Foundation and the Australia Council to undertake international research projects.
- Jess Olivieri – 2013 John Fries Award Winner (together with Hayley Forward) for their collaborative video work Harlequins Vs Visitors. Her practice spans performance, sound, video, dance and installation. Jess’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Performance Space in Sydney, GOMA in Brisbane, ISCP in New York, Adhocracy Festival in Port Adelaide, Perth Cultural Centre in WA and West Space in Melbourne.
- Sebastian Goldspink – also Guest Curator of the John Fries Award Finalists’ Exhibition. He is a well-known professional in the Sydney arts scene, and has worked across some of Sydney’s most popular arts events and venues including Art Month Sydney, Vivid and The Museum of Contemporary Art, developing creative and original ways for audiences to connect with contemporary art. Sebastian is the Director of Alaska Projects, a Sydney based Artist Run Initiative and is also Art Bank’s Roving Curator.
- Kath Fries – Viscopy Board member, artist and daughter of the award’s namesake John Fries. She is currently a PhD candidate at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. Kath has a site-responsive practice, she exhibits widely and has been an artist in residence at Bundanon Trust, Hill End, Fairfield Museum, Primrose Park Cremorne, Laughing Waters Eltham, The Lock-Up Museum Newcastle and Gosford Regional Gallery. She has also been awarded grants from the Japan Foundation, NAVA and the Australia Council.
- Megan Cope – Artist and descendant from the Quandamooka region (North Stradbroke Island) of south-east Queensland. Megan has exhibited across Australia and in Hong Kong, India and the USA. She has managed and curated several art spaces and projects including ‘tinygold’, Desperate Spaces and the artist handbook So You Want To Be An Artist. Megan was the Creative Director of the Brisbane Artist Run Initiatives Festival from 2009-10, and is a member of the Aboriginal art collective proppaNOW.
The John Fries Award is a platform for some of the most engaging and experimental works from emerging Australian and New Zealand artists.
The prize has been donated by the Fries family in memory of former Viscopy director and honorary treasurer, John Fries, who made a remarkable contribution to the life and success of artists licensing organisation Viscopy. The award’s 2014 sponsors include: International Art Services, 10 group, Little Creatures Brewery and Small Acres Cyder.
