StateoftheART launched its inaugural art award in February this year. The regional competition sets out to unearth the most exciting undiscovered contemporary artists from across South Africa and offers entrants the chance to win a R10,000 cash prize and a solo exhibition with the gallery in Cape Town in 2019.

We are delighted to announce the Award jury of five respected people from the visual arts industry who will be selecting the overall winner; an artist with a unique 'signature' within a South African context; an artist possessing creative excellence, original ideas and technical skill above all else.

The StateoftheART Gallery Award jury are:

Mandy Conidaris, a co-founder and the sole director of outoftheCUBE, an online visual arts platform established in 2013 to offer an alternative and credible exhibiting space for artists and printmaking studios. Mandy worked for five years in the Visual Arts Department at UNISA (Pretoria), and her experiences there led directly to the formation of outoftheCUBE. Her specific area of interest lies in South African prints, and she has 25 years of experience as an independent art consultant specialising in fine art print.

Masixole Ncevu, currently living and working in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. Ncevu completed an advanced course in photography at Vega and was awarded the Vega School of Brand Leadership Advanced Photography Award in 2015. His images of people and scenes from everyday life are deeply evocative and resound with multiple nuanced readings. Over the years, photography has played a fundamental role in shifting and reforming the way in which Masixole sees the world around him. His penchant for shooting street scenes and people has led to many unexpected encounters and experiences with strangers, which has allowed him to recognize his own prejudices and move beyond these. Ncevu has already gained international attention and having recently returned from a residency in Austria, is shortlisted for the August Sander Prize in Germany.

“Though still young and finding his place in South African photography, Ncevu is an important “voice”, and a good example of how problematic street and ethnographic photographers can approach documenting people’s lives: with honesty and integrity” – Russell Grant for Mail & Guardian

Mirjam Asmal, who has been the director of the AVA Gallery since 2015. Originally from the Netherlands, Mirjam completed a Bachelors degree in International Management before obtaining her Masters in the History of Art, specialising in Indian contemporary art, from the University of Amsterdam. She has worked for numerous art galleries in Europe including the Royal Hibernian Academy Gallagher Gallery in Dublin, Ireland and the Foundation for Indian Artists in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On arrival in South Africa Mirjam joined the Association for Visual Arts in Cape Town as Gallery Custodian. In 1997 she obtained a mandate from the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia, to set up and run Pro Helvetia Liaison Office South Africa, promoting exchange between Switzerland and Southern Africa in all disciplines of art. In the function of Head of Pro Helvetia Liaison Office South Africa, Mirjam initiated or facilitated around 500 arts exchange projects in the period 1998-2007. Between 2006 and 2009 she held the post of Managing Director of CAPE Africa Platform, producing large-scale biennale exhibitions in Cape Town, debating platforms in the Southern African region, and a Young Curators Programme and Arts Awareness Programme. From 2010-2013 she was the Programme Manager Arts, Culture & Heritage at !Khwa ttu San Centre.

Carol Hodes, who has been collecting art since 1977 - her first purchase was an Amos Langdown painting. She describes herself not as a collector but rather an art lover and self-confessed "art-o-holic". Hanging or placing art is Carol's form of creativity and in 2014 she was invited to curate the group exhibition 'From The Heart' at the Christopher Moller gallery. Carol's art aquisitions are instinctual and diverse - and not limited to South Africa as she owns many works by artists living working in the USA, Hungary, France, Belgium, Ukraine, Spain and more.

StateoftheART is the brainchild of Jennifer Reynolds. Before founding the gallery, Jennifer's career spanned the financial markets and technology sectors, which included 18 years with news and information vendor Reuters in both South Africa and Europe.  Ready for a new challenge outside of the financial markets, she relocated to Cape Town to pursue her passion for art, launching StateoftheART online in 2010, and opening a physical gallery in the city centre in March 2013.

About
The StateoftheART Gallery Award is dedicated to supporting artists resident in South Africa, giving them an opportunity to develop their creative ideas and contributing to their personal and professional growth. It is an opportunity for the artists to exhibit their work in a prestigious and highly visible space in the heart of Cape Town, and to raise their profile.

Unlike other competitions there is no participation fee, and entries will be assessed on a variety of criteria. Our aim is to find artists with a unique 'signature' within a South African context; to showcase artists whose work shows significant potential, who have interesting ideas, a relevant message and who demonstrate skillful execution.

This regional competition sets out to unearth the most exciting undiscovered contemporary artists from across South Africa and offers entrants a chance to win a R10,000 cash prize and a solo exhibition with the gallery in Cape Town in 2019.

Entries to the Award, which may include paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography and prints, are invited from artists living and working South Africa, and is open until midnight on the 15 July 2018. Participants must submit 4 signature works and be aged 18 or over to qualify. Entries must be submitted digitally using the StateoftheART Gallery Award online submission form.

 

For more information

Visit the StateoftheART film channel https://youtu.be/XbG-RxEwjIU

StateoftheART Gallery: https://www.stateoftheart-gallery.com/