2020 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship winner announced
Artspace Sydney and Create NSW announced Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding as the recipient of the 2020 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship (valued at $30 000), making him the first Aboriginal artist to win in the award’s over 100-year history.
Golding’s winning work Cast in cast out reflects on his childhood in Redfern and he has created resin sculptures of the iconic victorian cast-iron panels to explore practices of colonial occupation and western structures of land ownership. The winning work will be on display free to the public alongside the seven other finalists at Artspace, Sydney until 13 December 2020.
The Hon. Don Harwin, MLC, Minister for the Arts, announced the historical news and congratulated all eight shortlisted recipients for their exceptional works in this year’s exhibition.
“Congratulations to Dennis Golding. The Fellowship will support his research and tell important stories of his people through the exploration of contemporary Aboriginal cultural identity.”
The Fellowship recipient is chosen by a panel of industry peers which this year included Clothilde Bullen, Senior Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections and Exhibitions, MCA, Sydney; EO Gill, 2018 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship recipient; Lauretta Morton, Director, Newcastle Art Gallery; Steven Alderton, Director, National Art School, Sydney; and Talia Linz, Curator, Artspace.
The NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship panel said, “We are proud to support Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding as the first Aboriginal artist to win the Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship from a field of exceptional emerging artists. This Fellowship is a timely and important opportunity for Dennis to develop his work locally and continue his exploration of memory, identity and community through a decolonising lens.”
Artspace Executive Director Alexie Glass-Kantor and co-curator Elyse Goldfinch added, “We are thrilled that Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding is the 2020 Fellowship recipient and it’s timely that this accolade aligns with NAIDOC Week, an important recognition of Australia’s First Peoples. Spanning artistic and curatorial disciplines, Dennis is an emerging leader in his community, and we are excited to see where this opportunity will take his continued research and practice. We were deeply honoured to work with all eight finalists in the Fellowship. They represent a new generation shaping the future of artistic practice, critical ideas and cultural leadership.”
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