Sarah Contos wins $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize

The quilt of a lifetime wins Australia’s richest prize for young contemporary artists.

Sydney-based artist Sarah Contos has been announced as the winner of the 2017 Ramsay Art Prize for her work Sarah Contos Presents: The Long Kiss Goodbye. The inaugural $100,000 prize, Australia’s richest prize for young contemporary artists under the age of 40, was established by the philanthropic James and Diana Ramsay Foundation.

“Contos’ 21st-century quilt spills over, and, like a new epic history tableaux, celebrates power women in all their glory with fireworks, sequins and PVC,” said Leigh Robb, one of the judges and Art Gallery of South Australia’s Curator of Contemporary Art. According to the judges, they were unanimous in their decision, feeling that the selection of Contos represents a wonderful beginning for the Prize.

The huge quilt, selected from over 450 entries and 21 finalists from all over Australia including paintings, photography, video and interactive works, took a long time to make. “The actual putting-it-all-together took three months, but each of the prints I have used in exhibitions over the last four years, so I guess it took four years and three months,” Contos tells Limelight. “Usually, if I have an exhibition, I keep one of the copies. So there were all my copies from the previous shows and I kind of wanted to put them all together in one big ‘curtain call’. I just wanted to finish off the cycle of a creative period.”

^{Sarah Contos with The Long Kiss Goodbye. Photo © Art Gallery of SA}

It was this intention to mark an ending that inspired the title, The Long Kiss Good-Bye. “I think I have used these images enough,” she explains. “In my work, I like to repeat things. I wanted to say thanks to all these prints and then just move on to another thing. I think it’s emotional and also maybe psychological as well. It doesn’t just pertain to the prints, it’s also closing a chapter and opening a door to the next one.”

Perth-born Contos explains that she takes an intuitive approach to her work. “A lot of people ask me what kind of art do you make. It’s difficult for me to answer, because it depends on where I am at emotionally – or just in life. I might need to make a quilt because I need that softness – or just to be still at the sewing machine. If I’m feeling a bit more confident, I tend to make sculptures because it’s a lot more physical and active. It really depends on how I am feeling and what it is I need to generate in order to get through that, I guess. But definitely, the intuition, the stomach, the heart and the hands, they all have to come together – otherwise it’s not a true collaborative process.”

For her there is no clear-cut message in what she creates. “I try to be very honest and true to what I make – it’s just easier to make good and generous work,” Contos explains. “I think there are multiple associations people make with anything – it could be a colour or an object or a smell. I like my work to cater for everybody, and I think that’s what I mean about generosity. It’s not didactic. I’m not telling you what I think about this politically. It’s generous in its ambiguity.”

“This is Sarah Contos’ most ambitious work to date,” said Art Gallery of South Australia Director Nick Mitzevich. “This tour de force brings together aspects of her career from the last four years. Previous works of art and exhibition histories are all captured in this textile time-capsule, making it a self-initiated retrospective of her life in art.”

So what next for Contos? “Everyone’s been asking that,” she laughs. “It’s the hardest one. It’s not every day that you’re in this position. I have no idea what will be next. Obviously, I can use materials that I’ve always wanted to use, or I can take more risks. Sometimes when you’re a little bit poor, it’s harder to take risks, because mistakes cost. This will definitely enable more risky stuff. And travel – it’s really hard to travel when you’ve got no money, to just go and have a look at beautiful work. But also stuff that’s not even connected to art can inspire me to go in other directions. It just offers possibilities and I think that’s incredible.”

All 21 finalists are also eligible for a People’s Choice Prize supported by sponsors Lipman Karas. The cash prize of $15,000 is chosen by public vote and will be announced on 11 August 2017.

The 2017 Ramsay Art Prize exhibition runs from May 27 to August 27 at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Admission is free.