The Aesthetica Art Prize 2016 Countdown: 10 Days to Go – Photography

With 10 days to go until the Aesthetica Art Prize closes for entries, we hand-pick a selection of projects from this year’s competition and find out more about the award’s diverse and international practitioners.  The annual prize welcomes pieces created in a wide variety of mediums, from drawing, painting and photography to sculpture, installation, video and performance. We take a look at the work of Russ Flatt, who was longlisted in the Photographic & Digital Art category in 2015.

Flatt’s Swimming pool #1 sits within a series that discusses the notion of identity by looking back to the past in order to recognise the present, showing a narrative-driven construct of a young boy depicted within a suburban landscape. By seeing through the boy’s eyes, the sense of being an outsider within one’s own life is apparent. The tension and awkwardness associated with coming-of-age help to illustrate an inward tension within the family unit, because of something that is about to happen or because of something that has just happened. Photographed in spots across Auckland, New Zealand, the locations are an integral part of this self-narrative series.

The artist’s photography appeared in the Aesthetica Art Prize 2015 exhibition and can be found in the current publication Future Now. The annual award is open for entries until 31 August. Prizes include up to £5,000 courtesy of Hiscox, editorial in Aesthetica, art books courtesy of Prestel, and art supplies vouchers courtesy of Winsor & Newton.

Register your artwork at www.aestheticamagazine.com/art-prize.

Visit Russ Flatt’s website at www.russflatt.com.

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Credits
1. Russ Flatt, Swimming Pool #1, 2013. Courtesy of the artist.