The Ramsay Art Prize takes the temperature of contemporary art

How do you take the temperature of art making in Australia in a single year, let alone two? Since 2016 the Ramsay Art Prize has given it a red-hot go, putting $100,000 on the table with an open call to artists under 40 all around the country.

“It acts as a kind of barometer for contemporary art,” says Julie Fragar, who won the 2017 People’s Choice prize before returning this year as a judge. “What’s the next generation of artists making? What kind of things are they interested in? What are they reflecting about society?”

The biennial prize has given wildly different readings from one competition to the next. Past winners include Vincent Namatjira’s funfair-inspired satire of Captain Cook; a video tribute to fullbody baptism by durational artist Ida Sophia; and a stainless-steel pendulum set swinging over a fleshy strip of silicone by sculptor Kate Bohunnis.

Fragar says this year’s forecast shows a trend towards installation and sculpture-based work across the 22 finalists, whose work is on show at the Art Gallery of South Australia until 31 August.

“There’s almost no straight-up painting in the whole show—there’s a big interest in spatial practice. The art is turning to materiality in a way that maybe was falling away over the last 20 years or so.”

Bridie Gillman, born Brisbane 1990, 'Pink room, pink womb', 2024, oil on canvas, timber, tufted wool, soundscape: 23:45 min, 202.0 x 190.0 x 162.0 cm (overall); Courtesy of the artist and Hugo Michell Gallery.

2025 finalists include Bridie Gillman’s Pink room, pink womb, which incorporates a soundscape and tufted wool rug; EJ Son’s furry giant Dancing Teddy; and You’ve been on my mind, sister, a pair of skirted, human-sized sculptures by Arrernte artist Alfred Lowe.

“There’s a real sensitivity around materials, especially people like Elizabeth Willing, Shireen Taweel, and Liam Fleming, who have an incredibly light touch around materials,” Fragar says. “There’s nothing else like it.”

Ramsay Art Prize
Art Gallery of South Australia
Until 31 August

This article was originally published in the July/August 2025 print edition of Art Guide Australia.

Preview Words by Walter Marsh