As part of the John Fries Award opening weekend, curator Miriam Kelly is in conversation with finalists Darcey Bella Arnold, Daniel Jenatsch, Ryan Presley, and JD Reforma.

Darcey Bella Arnold is a Melbourne-based artist. Her work is a meditation on language, image-making and familial relationships.

Daniel Jenatsch is a Melbourne-based artist and composer. His work is concerned with how knowledge and power inform our social and mental ecologies. 

Ryan Presley is a Brisbane-based artist of Marri Ngarr and Scandinavian descent. His practice audits and critiques politics, power, history, remembrance, and human behaviour.

JD Reforma is a Sydney-based interdisciplinary artist. His work negotiates the lived experiences of the Asian-Australian diasporas, popular culture, political dynasticism and cultural imperialism. 

For more than a decade, the John Fries Award has recognised early-career practitioners from across Australia and New Zealand. Profiling more than 120 contemporary artists since 2009, the Award matches the philanthropic support of the Fries family with the Copyright Agency's enduring commitment to developing and sustaining artistic practices. The finalist exhibition acts as a closing celebration, with 2021 marking the conclusion of this longstanding prize.

Image: Ryan Presley, 'Aeronautics (what goes up must come down)' 2020. Oil, synthetic polymer paint and gold leaf on polyester-cotton canvas. Courtesy: the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane. Photograph: Carl Warner