Basil Sellers Art Prize 2010

Curator: Bala Starr

The Basil Sellers Art Prize encourages a dynamic and critical reflection on all forms of sport and sporting culture in Australia.

Sport has been a recurring theme in Australian art. For contemporary artists today, sport touches upon anything from everyday life through to globalisation, from the concrete experience of a game through to abstract notions like cheating and fair play. Sport is about winners and losers, individuals and teams, rules and penalties, equipment and architecture, fans and souvenirs, triumphs and scandals.

The Basil Sellers Art Prize defines sport in the broadest possible sense. This exhibition presents works in various media by contemporary Australian artists shortlisted for the second biennial award, which offers $100,000 for a single outstanding work of art. Shortlisted artists for the 2010 prize and exhibition are: Vernon Ah Kee, Eric Bridgeman, Juan Ford, Phillip George, Tarryn Gill and Pilar Mata Dupont, Ponch Hawkes, Grant Hobson, David Jolly, Richard Lewer, Noel McKenna, Glenn Morgan, David Ray, Gareth Sansom, and Tony Schwensen.

This prize is sponsored by businessman Basil Sellers to encourage contemporary artists to develop their practice, to engage with the many themes within sport past and present, and to contribute to critical reflection on all forms of sport and sporting culture in Australia.