Melbourne Art Foundation

Awards For The Visual Arts

2011 Melbourne Art Foundation Awards for the Visual Arts
Artist Award: Fiona Hall
Visionary Award: Marc Besen AO and Eva Besen AO

Australia's preeminent awards for the visual arts, the biennial Melbourne Art Foundation Awards for the Visual Arts, were announced at a sumptuous gala dinner held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on 15 September 2011.

Sydney-born and Adelaide-based artist Fiona Hall received the Artist Award in recognition of her outstanding achievement in the visual arts through a comprehensive body of work. Hall has been exhibiting since 1974 and is one of the most influential, critically acclaimed artists working in Australia today. Hall began her career in photography before extending into diverse interdisciplinary practice including sculpture and installation that often sees her collaborate with scientists, historians and museologists as part of her meticulous research and fieldwork.

The Visionary Award was bestowed upon Melbourne-based Mark Besen AO and Eva Besen AO in recognition of their unwavering commitment to progress the status of contemporary Australian art nationally and beyond. This support has been both through the Besen Family Foundation and on an individual level through their active participation with not-for-profit art institutions, including the establishment of Australia's first privately funded public museum, the TarraWarra Museum of Art.

The Awards, were presented by Cate Blanchett, Co-Artistic Director and Co-CEO Sydney Theatre Company, Edmund Capon, Director and Chief Curator, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Suhanya Raffel, Deputy Director at Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art and Bronwyn Johnson, Director and CEO Melbourne Art Foundation.

National awards acknowledging Artists and Visionaries
Melbourne Art Foundation Awards for the Visual Arts celebrate innovation and excellence in the Australian visual arts sector.

The Awards are presented in two categories:

Artist Award
The Artist Award recognises the outstanding achievement of an Australian Artist, through a comprehensive body of work.

Visionary Award
The Visionary Award recognises the outstanding contribution made by Australians who have developed and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to progress the status of contemporary Australian art nationally and beyond.

Award Celebrations
The recipients of the Melbourne Art Foundation Awards for the Visual Arts were announced on the evening of Thursday 15 September 2011 and celebrated over a sumptuous dinner featuring special guest speakers and performers. Each recipient will received a limited edition bronze sculpture created by artist Marea Gazzard, courtesy of the artist and Utopia Art Sydney.

Selection Process
A nation-wide open call for nominations was issued in late 2010 in order to source a shortlist of nominees for the 2011 Awards. This shortlist formed the basis of the judging process undertaken by the Board and Director of the Melbourne Art Foundation with Awards Convenor, Jason Smith Director and CEO, Heide Museum of Modern Art.