ADELAIDE.- Vincent Namatjira has been named the winner of the Ramsay Art Prize 2019, Australia’s most generous prize for young people, with his work Close Contact.
Art Gallery of South Australia Director, Rhana Devenport ONZM said, ‘The Ramsay Art Prize sets out to elevate and accelerate careers of young contemporary Australian artists. Vincent Namatjira is at a pivotal point in his career and his work Close Contact represents a new way of working for him.’
The judges were unanimous in their appreciation of the work and feel that Namatijira’s bold new work represents the very essence of the Ramsay Art Prize, which is now in its second iteration.
Great-grandson of watercolourist Albert Namatjira, Vincent Namatjira lives and works in Indulkana in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands of South Australia.
Upon accepting the award, Vincent Namatjira said, ‘Winning this prize means a lot to me and it will hopefully create more opportunities for me to continue to make more ambitious work and to share my practice with new audiences. I also hope to use my position to create opportunities for other young artists in remote Indigenous communities. I can honestly say that becoming an artist turned my life around and now I want to be a leader and a role-model for the next generation of young artists.'
The winning work was selected by a panel of international and national contemporary art experts. Guest judge Russell Storer, Deputy Director (Curatorial and Research), National Gallery of Singapore said ‘Vincent's work stood out for its directness and clarity, but also for its wit and complexity.’
‘Close Contact is a startling self-portrait combining painting and sculpture, and as such represents a major shift in Vincent's practice. Cook is represented as a persistent shadow of the artist showing how Indigenous and white Australia are inextricably linked by history, but also in the present. Vincent’s thumbs-up stance expresses resilience and humour, crucial strategies for resistance and survival.’ Russell Storer said.
