Trio named for art commission
Three New Zealand photographers have been nominated for one of the country’s most significant photographic art commissions, which this year will include showing new work in China.
Chloe Riddell, PJ Paterson and Ane Tonga comprise the 2015 shortlist for the annual Auckland Festival of Photography Annual Fine Arts Commission, the winner of which will be commissioned to produce a new body of work for the festival.
Riddell, last year a finalist in the Sony World Photography Awards Student Focus competition, produces analogue work at the intersection of documentary and fine art with a strong autobiographical leaning. Paterson, two-time finalist for the Wallace Art Awards, creates digital collages to highlight the problematic contradictions at the foundations of modern society. Tonga, who showed her exhibition Grills at last year’s festival, investigates collective experiences of place and cultural value through her work.
The commission, presented by Sacred Hill Vineyards, is now in its fifth year and celebrates the milestone by also presenting a new work by the winner at the Pingyao International Photography Festival in September, with the help of Creative New Zealand.
The winner’s commissioned work will be shown at the Auckland Festival of Photography, running May 28 to June 29 — visit photographyfestival.org.nz for more details.