Catherine Evans with her 2017 work Irrstern
Melbourne and Berlin-based cross-disciplinary artist Catherine Evans has been awarded the 2017 Georges Mora Fellowship, including a $10,000 grant, a residency at State Library Victoria. We spoke to Catherine about her practice, and winning the Fellowship.
Read moreThe Georges Mora Foundation is delighted to announce that Clive Scott has joined the Georges Mora Foundation as Chair. Clive is the General Manager of Sofitel Melbourne on Collins and and Area General Manager – Sofitel Australia and Fiji and is a well-known and respected supporter of the arts in Melbourne. He is on the board of Craft Victoria, is Chairman of the Department of Management and Marketing Advisory Board at the University of Melbourne, and is Chairman of Judges for the 2014 Melbourne Awards. He was an ambassador of the 2014 Melbourne Art Fair. Clive has been honoured with the Gold Tourism Medal from the French Minister of Tourism for his contribution to tourism development between France and Australia.
We also welcome curator and arts writer Laura Lantieri to the board. Laura brings diverse experience, she currently works at Arc One Gallery and in 2013 she worked in Italy at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Australian Pavilion for the 55th Venice Biennale. She holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours) and a Master of Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne
From left:
Clive Scott, Chair of The Georges Mora Foundation
Inez de Vega, 2014 Georges Mora Foundation Fellow
Caroline Williams, Foundation Founder
Louise Vigar, former Chair of the Georges Mora Foundation
photograph courtesy of State Library of Victoria photographer James Braund.
Louise Vigar joined the foundation in 2005 – the year it was launched – becoming the chair shortly thereafter. Lou was key to the foundation’s development and subsequent growth. With a great respect for artists together with a rock solid belief in the necessity of art, Lou brought both gravitas and a sense of responsibility to the role. Her long commitment is greatly appreciated by The Georges Mora Foundation.
Georges Mora Foundation founder and board member, Caroline Mora Williams today announced Inez de Vega as recipient of the 2014 Georges Mora Foundation Fellowship.
Inez de Vega is a performance and video artist based in Melbourne.
Referencing compelling visual imagery from the history of art, cinema and theatre, Inez plays with the past to create contemporary narratives of trauma, transgression and psychological neuroses.
Inez grew up in a family addicted to Hollywood musicals and it is this popular art form that delivers the starting point for her performances. Merging a theatrical aesthetic with her own personal allegory, she creates boldly satirical characters.
Through performance and video, the individuals she inhabits are driven to extremes. They transgress social norms and articulate the mental states that collectively we do our best to hide from one another. But whether our mental suffering is the result of a diagnosable psychiatric illness or merely the anxieties of everyday living, we each find a way of acting out our neuroses. And therein lies her obsession: how do we perform our own madnesses?
Announcing the 2014 Georges Mora Foundation Fellow, Caroline Mora Williams commented that “Inez encapsulates what the Georges Mora Foundation values – courage, creativity and the unexpected to challenge the status quo and give strength to new thinking in art.”
The Georges Mora Foundation Fellow is awarded $10,000 generously donated by arts supporters. Inez will also receive in-kind support from the State Library of Victoria and Alliance Française de Melbourne and access to a residency with Centre Intermondes in La Rochelle, France.
In May the 2014 Georges Mora Foundation Fellowship Judges convened to assess nominations. The panel comprised the following eminent arts and cultural professionals:
Mark Burlace – Head of Programming, Melbourne Festival
Ross Coulter – Artist and 2010 Georges Mora Foundation Fellow
Kate Daw – Artist and academic
Robert Heather – Manager, Collection Interpretation, State Library of Victoria
Julie Kantor – Director, Annamila Foundation
Anaïs Lellouche – Curator, Centre Pompidou Australian Association
Louise Vigar – Chair, Georges Mora Foundation
Caroline Williams Mora – Artist and Founder Georges Mora Foundation
Kit Wise – Artist and academic
The panel noted the exceptionally high standard of this year's nominees.
The Foundation Board wishes to thank the Judges for their engagement and rigour in selecting the 2014 Fellow. We look forward to announcing the 2014 Georges Mora Foundation Fellow later this month.
We were delighted to receive a record number of applicants for the 2014 Georges Mora Foundation Fellowship. Currently shortlisting is taking place.
Applications for the Georges Mora Foundation Fellowship 2014-15 are now open
Please see the 2014 Fellowship for guidelines and to download the application form.
The Georges Mora Foundation Fellowship is awarded each year to a contemporary artist to engage in fresh thinking and to research new possibilities in their art.
The Fellowship provides financial support, residency opportunities and access to organisations and individuals with specialist knowledge to supports the artist to research, experiment and create.
Announcing the 2014 Fellowship, Georges Mora Foundation founder and board member, Caroline Mora Williams today recalled Georges’ belief that ‘the artist participates in the wholeness of life, in the connectedness of things whereas art comes from this without admitting a thing’.
The Georges Mora Foundation seeks an artist who has shown continuous commitment to the field of contemporary art and wishes to challenge their practice and the field of contemporary art further, and whose past work has demonstrated gravitas.
The Georges Mora Foundation Fellowship is awarded with funds generously donated by arts supporters and with the support of the State Library of Victoria, Alliance Française de Melbourne and other partners. The Fellowship will be awarded by an independent panel of recognised arts and cultural professionals.
Artworks by two past recipients of the Georges Mora Foundation Fellowship, Ross Coulter (2010) and Brook Andrew (2013) are part of Melbourne Now currently on exhibition at NGV. Other Fellows are Trinh Vu (2007), Cyrus Tang (2008), Philip Brophy (2009), Linda Tegg (2012) and Trent Walter (2013).
The Fellowship is open to any Australian citizen or resident who has a recognised and reputable body of work in the field of contemporary art. There is no age limit.
Named in honour of Georges Mora, the renowned restaurateur, art dealer, patron, mentor and cultural catalyst, the Georges Mora Foundation aims to facilitate and encourage new and independent thinking required for the development of art in Australia.
Submissions close 17 April 2014
Enquiries georgesmorafoundation@gmail.com or 0400 048 050
www.georgesmorafoundation.org.au