Stephen Pleban's Blessing I has been selected as a finalist at the Flanagan Art Prize, hosted at St Patricks in Ballarat. Congratulations Stephen.
The Flanagan Art Prize has been reprised in its original format as a major exhibition after pivoting to a residency in 2019. Running since 2008, this highly regarded national competition and exhibition held at St Patrick’s College in Ballarat, Victoria, celebrates emerging and established artists across many contemporary artforms.
The Flanagan Art Prize exhibition will be open to the public at St Patrick’s College’s OCA Pavilion from 21-23 March.
Blessing I, 2024, oil, wax and marble dust on linen, 183x153cm
"The work is a tender representation of connections that exist between animals and
people and was initially inspired by the act of people bringing beloved pets to church to
be blessed. Giotto’s painting Sermon to the Birds was also influential. Giotto’s work
depicts a monk’s kindness and affinity with a strange assortment of birds.
My work is also influenced by personal experiences and memories. The chandelier, that
hovers mysteriously in the scene, is inspired by magnificent Byzantine chandeliers I
observed in monasteries during a recent visit to Greece.
An essential element of my practice is the exploration of formal elements that celebrate
a deep engagement with the medium. Through the interplay of memory, my interest in
art history, my concerns about changes in our climate, and through the medium itself,
imagined spaces take shape." - Stephen Pleban, 2025