2011 Maddocks Art Prizes Awarded

7 July 2011: The 2011 Maddocks Art Prizes, which allow two emerging Australian artists to visit the Venice Biennale, were presented by Doug Hall AM, Australian Commissioner for the Venice Biennale, to Trevelyan Clay in Melbourne and by Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, to Justene Williams in Sydney. The prizes were for artist in residency programs at Gertrude Contemporary in Melbourne and Artspace in Sydney.

The winners were selected by judges Doug Hall AM, Australian Commissioner Venice Biennale 2011; Simon Maidment; Ms Lisa Havilah, Chief Executive Officer at CarriageWorks; and Mark Henry, partner at Maddocks and the firm's lead sponsor of the Art Prize.

"The winners were selected based on a portfolio of work submitted from a selected field of candidates. Trevelyan and Justene are to be congratulated on winning the prize from an exceptional group of contenders," commented Mark Henry.

The Maddocks Art Prize is presented every two years at a reception in Melbourne and parallel event in Sydney. The prize consists of a return airfare to Venice, accommodation in an apartment provided by Maddocks for a week during the Biennale and $3,000 in cash. The total value of each prize is around $10, 000.

"Maddocks is committed to supporting contemporary art in Australia. We established the Art Prize in 2005 to provide winners with an opportunity to visit Venice. This was to augment Maddocks' corporate sponsorship in Australia's participation at the Venice Biennale," Mark Henry said.

Past prize winners have been Mira Gojak (2005), Benjamin Armstrong (2007) and Richard Lewer (2009).