Image: Fayen d’Evie, Myopic reading Janaleen sings, and hides Re-calling From One Body to Another, 2017
The John Fries Award is an annual $10,000 non-acquisitive art prize recognising the talents of early career visual artists.
Since its humble beginnings in 2010, the Award has established itself as a platform for some of the most engaging and experimental works from the next wave of contemporary artists from across Australia and New Zealand.
The prize was established 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 the organisation. Viscopy merged with Copyright Agency on 30 November 2017 after a successful five year partnership agreement and are now known as Copyright Agency.
The prize has gone from strength to strength each year with many previous winners and finalists continuing to achieve other significant milestones in their careers. The Exhibition offers a glimpse of what’s occurring at the dynamic ‘emerging’ edge of the contemporary art scene, and heightens our expectations of the future.
– Kath Fries, John Fries Award judge and daughter of the late John Fries