The Blake Prize, formerly the Blake Prize for Religious Art, is an Australian art prize awarded for art that explores

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

. Since the inaugural prize in 1951, the prize was awarded annually from 1951 to 2015, and since 2016 has been awarded biennially. , the non-acquisitive prize, awarded since 2016 by the

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC), commonly referred to as Casula Powerhouse, is a multi-disciplinary arts centre in Casula, New South Wales, Casula, a south-western outer suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Before being renovated a ...

(CPAC), is worth . In addition, CPAC awards the Blake Emerging Artist Prize, an acquisitive prize of (formerly the John Coburn Emerging Artist Award), and the Blake Established Artist Residency, which includes a

residency Residency may refer to: * Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc. * Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...

and

solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an art exhibition, exhibition of the work of only one artist. Rather than a group of artists who collaborate to form an exhibition. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photogr ...

hosted by CPAC.

History

The prize was established in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1949 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art and to find suitable work to decorate churches. It was founded by

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

businessman Richard Morley, the Reverend Michael Scott SJ, a headmaster of

Campion Hall Campion Hall is one of the four permanent private halls of the University of Oxford in England. A Catholic hall, it is run by the Society of Jesus and named after Edmund Campion, a martyr and fellow of St John's College, Oxford. The hall is lo ...

Point Piper Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra. Location The suburb of Point Piper sits ...

, and subsequently rector of Aquinas College (a Catholic residential college for university students in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

), and lawyer M. Tenison. The Blake Prize is named after the artist and poet,

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

. The inaugural Blake Prize was awarded by the Blake Society in 1951 to Justin O'Brien. The Blake exhibitions have been a regular travelling exhibition around Australia, visiting various major cities and provincial galleries. The award of the Blake Prize to Charles Bannon in 1954 for his ''

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of sil ...

'' was one of the most controversial in its history; this opened controversy over what constituted religious art and over "

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

" which threatened to overwhelm the exhibition. In 2000, the prize shifted its focus from strictly religious art to an exploration of spirituality, and some of the entries proved controversial. In 2007, former prime minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

and former Catholic archbishop of Sydney

George Pell George Pell (8 June 1941 – 10 January 2023) was an Australian cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 2002, he faced recurring accusations of sexual abuse, although his subsequent sexual abuse conviction was quashed on appeal to the High Cour ...

expressed disapproval of art works showing the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

in a

burqa A burqa or burka (; ) is an enveloping outer garment worn by some Muslim women which fully covers the body and the face. Also known as a chadaree (; ) or chaadar (Dari: چادر) in Afghanistan, or a ''paranja'' (; ; ) in Central Asia, the Ara ...

, and a

hologram Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...

of Christ morphing with

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

. In 2008, ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

s art critic Christopher Allen resigned from the judging panel over an entry by

Adam Cullen Adam Frederick Cullen (9 October 1965 – 28 July 2012) was an Australian artist, most known for winning the Archibald Prize in 2000 with a portrait of actor David Wenham. He was also known for his controversial subjects and his distinct ...

showing the crucifixion of Christ. The prize was known as the Blake Prize for Religious Art until its 56th edition in 2007, and was based at the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts ...

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

at this time. For its 57th edition in 2008, it was rebranded the Blake Prize, subtitled "Exploring the spiritual and religious in art". In 2008 the Blake Society, in collaboration with the New South Wales Writers' Centre (now Writing NSW), established the Blake Poetry Prize to link art and literature and to give Australian poets new possibilities to explore the nature of spirituality in the 21st century. In 2011, Australian art historian, educator and exhibition curator Rosemary Crumlin authored a book documenting 60 years of the Blake Prize. In 2012, the National Art School was replaced as exhibition partner by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

S. H. Ervin Gallery The S. H. Ervin Gallery is a major public art institution housed in the historic National Trust Centre in Observatory Park, Sydney.Observatory Park, in Sydney's city centre, for the 61st edition of the awards. In 2014 there were new commercial sponsors, and the venue partner became UNSW College of Fine Arts (now UNSW School of Art & Design). The prize was administered by the Blake Society up till and including 2015. After the 63rd edition of the prize in January, chair Rod Pattenden said that it would not be able to continue owing to lack of sponsorship, suggesting that the prize was seen as "too open-minded" by religious organisations and "too religious" by secular people. In July, the Casula Powerhouse Art Centre (CPAC) and

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...

announced that they would be funding and managing the prize, with the exhibition and awards moving to

Casula Casula () is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 34 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool. Casula is the first suburb immediately ...

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

. They promised that would be available in perpetuity. In 2016 CPAC took over the prize for the 64th Blake Prize, and it became a biennial award. It now focuses on the broader spiritual arts rather than religious art. The Casula Powerhouse took over the Blake Poetry Prize in the same year.

Blake Prize for Human Justice

From 2009 until 2014, the Blake Prize for Human Justice, worth , was sponsored by the Maritime Union of Australia. The winners were: *2009: Dianne Coulter *2010: Fiona White *2011: Abdul Abdullah *2012: Saif Almurayati, a former refugee *2013:

Franz Kempf Franz Moishe Kempf (20 June 1926 – 8 February 2020) was an Australian artist who worked in Australia and Europe. He was a lecturer in printmaking at the University of Adelaide. Early life and education Kempf was born in Melbourne on 20 June ...

*2014: Hedy Ritterman

Current prizes

, there are three prizes awarded by Casula Powerhouse: * The Blake Prize, a non-acquisitive prize of * The Blake Emerging Artist Prize, an acquisitive prize of (formerly the John Coburn Emerging Artist Award) * The Blake Established Artist Residency, a

and

, hosted by Casula Powerhouse

List of winners

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake Prize For Religious Art Australian visual arts awards Awards established in 1949 William Blake 1949 establishments in Australia Blake Prize for Religious Art