Winners of the 2023 Olive Cotton Award were announced recently with Gerwyn Davies’ portrait Replica winning the $20,000 overall prize.
The ceremony was attended by many of this year’s finalists who travelled from across the country to join in the celebrations.
Davies’ Replica was selected as the winning portrait from a field of 72 finalists, including emerging and established photographers from around Australia. Davies is the 12th artist to win the Award, which was first presented in 2005.
The announcements were made in an official opening and presentation ceremony at Tweed Regional Gallery, Murwillumbah on Saturday 15 July. The event was also live-streamed for those who could not attend.
The Award was judged by artist, curator and critic Dr Daniel Mudie Cunningham. Dr Mudie Cunningham visited the Gallery on Friday 14 July to view all works installed before making his final decision.
Dr Mudie Cunningham said hiding is not something we associate with portraiture. ‘A conventional portrait requires a subject’s presence and disclosure to connect with the world.’
What it means to be seen and unseen
‘Gerwyn Davies is keenly aware that revelation is central to portraiture and photography, and in Replica he engages with queer visibility politics to interrogate what it means to be seen and unseen, to appear and disappear. Camouflaged within an inventive tableau made from costuming, props, and partially harnessing new AI technologies, he creates a clever and joyous image that speaks to art history and narratives of place and time, with conceptual and aesthetic rigour.’
Dr Mudie Cunningham also Highly Commended Vedika Rampal’s My mother dreams of Ghalib and Meng-Yu Yan’s Another Ruin VI.
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre Inc., Ferne Millen’s No Labels Required, a portrait of Dr Todd Fernando, was acquired for the Gallery’s collection, with Director Susi Muddiman OAM awarding it the 2023 Director’s Choice.
Visitors to the Olive Cotton Award exhibition can cast their own vote in the People’s Choice Award. The finalist with the most votes will receive $500.
The exhibition will run until Sunday 24 September 2021. The Gallery is open Wednesdays to Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm (closed Mondays and Tuesdays). Entry to view the exhibition is free.
A full list of finalists is available on the Gallery’s website at https://artgallery.tweed.
A strong showing of more than 600 entries were received this year for the biennial award, which is funded by Olive Cotton’s family and dedicated to her memory as one of Australia’s leading 20th Century photographers.
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