Saturday, May 4th, 2019
Liam Benson
2019 Ramsay Art Prize

Congratulations to Liam Benson who is a current finalist in the 2019 Ramsay Art Prize at the Art Gallery of South Australia for his work Community Participatory Embroidery, Thoughts and Prayers, 2015 – 2018.

Community participatory embroidery, Thoughts and Prayers is an assemblage of embroidered flowers created by many hands in collaboration with Liam Benson. Working in artist-led workshops, participants designed and embroidered beaded and sequined flowers as a tribute to loved ones. Created as a response to mass floral tributes, Community participatory embroidery, Thoughts and Prayers is a memorial that is an expression of public emotion and private mourning. It is a shared celebration of love and the living.

Benson is a Sydney-based artist whose practice incorporates performance, photography, video and textiles. His practice is informed by collaborations with diverse communities and presents an ongoing conversation about how culture, subculture and identity interrelate and evolve.

Held every two years, the Ramsay Art Prize invites submissions from Australian artists under 40 working in any medium. Finalists have been be selected by an international judging panel: Russell Storer, Deputy Director (Curatorial and Research), National Gallery of Singapore, Richard Lewer, contemporary artist, and Dr Lisa Slade, Assistant Director, Artistic Programs, Art Gallery of South Australia.

Finalists works will be exhibited in a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia from 25 May to 25 August 2019. The winner will be judged from the exhibition and announced on Friday 24 May 2019. Through the generosity of the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation, the winning work is acquired into the Gallery’s collection.

Liam’s work will be displayed alongside 22 other finalists, including Jessica Bradford (NSW), Ry David Bradley (VIC), Eric Bridgeman (QLD), Lina Buck (VIC), Dale Collier (NSW), Julia deVille (VIC), Kuba Dorabialski (NSW), Emily Ferretti (VIC), Tom Freeman (WA), Tarryn Gill (WA), Nathan Hawkes (NSW), Sophia Hewson (VIC), Hayley Millar-Baker (VIC), Viv Miller (VIC), Pierre Mukeba (SA), Vincent Namatjira (SA), Phuong Ngo (VIC), Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran (NSW), Jahnne Pasco-White (VIC), Huseyin Sami (NSW), Isadora Vaughan (VIC) and Sera Waters (SA).

 

Community Participatory Embroidery Facilitated by Liam Benson_'Thoughts and Prayers'_2015 - 2018_Glass and acrylic seed beads, bugle beads, sequins, cotton, tulle_280cm x 300cm.

Community Participatory Embroidery, Thoughts and Prayers_Facilitated by Liam Benson_2015 – 2018_Glass and acrylic seed beads, bugle beads, sequins, cotton, tulle_280cm x 300cm.