Contemporary Art Prize
Congratulations to Sam Gold who has announced as the WINNER of the Wollongong Art Prize 2025!
Judged by Dr Kristen Sharp, Gold's winning work explores care, fluidity, and resilient storytelling. The large-scale hand-built stoneware sculpture, finished with enamel, uses coiling and layering to resist fixed edges, carrying collective stories and asserting presence.
Wollongong Art Prize is an acquisitive national prize, open to all Australian artists. Now reimagined for a new generation, the competition invites submissions from artists working across all mediums. With a strong emphasis on accessibility, inclusivity, and community engagement, the prize seeks to showcase the breadth and vitality of contemporary art practice.
The finalist works will be on display at Wollongong Art Gallery from today until Sunday 1 March 2026.
Once again we congratulate Sam and all the other finalists!
Sam Gold, Lungs swollen with warmth from the mouths of exploding stars, 2024-25, stoneware and enamel, 150 x 190 x 18 cm. Photography by Connor Patterson
Congratulations to Fiona McMonagle, who has been announced as a finalist in The Lester Prize for 2025 with her painting ‘Eve #2’!
About this series, Fiona shares: “In patriarchal systems, women unconsciously absorb and enforce sexist beliefs, creating divisions and perpetuating cycles of blame and shame. Disappointingly, such judgment often comes from within the community of women, fuelled by internalised misogyny.
This body of work, Eve, explores these dynamics, depicting women’s faces boldly and unapologetically, inspired by the confrontational format of mugshots. These raw portraits, painted with fluid acrylics on raw canvas, reflect society’s tendency to label and shame women. The work challenges viewers to confront their biases and complicity in this culture of judgment.”
The exhibition will be on display from 19 September - 16 November 2025 at the Western Australian Museum, Boola Bardip.
Pictured: Fiona McMonagle's 'Eve' at Hugo Michell Gallery, 2025. Photography by Tobias Titz