Brisbane, 7 October 2011: Queensland photographic artist Kate Bernauer is the winner of this year's Clayton Utz LAUNCH Art Award, announced last night at a cocktail reception at Clayton Utz in Brisbane.
Kate's work, 'The Underpass' (archival pigment ink on cotton rag) was chosen from 39 finalists as the winner of this year's Award.
This year's judge, internationally acclaimed artist and Griffith University Queensland College of Art Associate professor Marian Drew, described 'The Underpass' as an "outstanding" work. "[It is] an engaging and beautiful image through colour, composition and photographic detail but more importantly it seems to pose questions about the psychology of individuals in contemporary society. She is able to deliver this in a humorous way that allows us to consider these things without too much angst," said Marian.
Brisbane-born Kate holds a Bachelor of Photography from Griffith University's Queensland College of the Arts and majored in Photographic Art Practice. Predominantly a photographic artist, Kate has also worked as a Cinematic Designer for the video games industry.
Kate's work, and that of several finalists, will be on display at Clayton Utz's Brisbane offices in Riparian Plaza from 6 October to 21 September 2012.
Clayton Utz partner Frazer Moss said the firm was proud to support the LAUNCH Award. "As a firm with a long history in Queensland, we are passionate about supporting our community and we are delighted that we can provide this opportunity to a Queensland artist," he said. "The response to the call for entries this year was quite remarkable and the quality of the submissions has reinforced that the depth of talent in Queensland is truly extraordinary."
Now in its fourth year, the Clayton Utz LAUNCH Art Award (formerly known as the LAUNCH: Clayton Utz Travelling Arts Scholarship) is a $10,000 prize available to Queensland-based or artists with a strong connection to Queensland, working in any medium.
Since its launch, the Clayton Utz LAUNCH Art Award has helped both emerging and established artists, such as Martin Smith and Dane Lovett (2008 Winners), Gemma Smith (2009 Winner) and Haruka Sawa (2010 Winner), to further their careers.
Clayton Utz would like to acknowledge and thank Lethbridge Gallery http://brettlethbridge.com for managing this year's Award.