Theo Costantino is a queer non-binary artist based on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja / Perth, and Executive Director of ART ON THE MOVE. Their practice includes drawing, sculpture, video, photography, written works and performance. They have exhibited and undertaken residency projects within Australia, Europe, the UK and USA both in a solo capacity and collaboratively. Broadly, Theo’s work investigates the representation and memorialisation of the past: the use and abuse of history, the continuing influence of the past on the present, and the ways in which repressed or forgotten material can resurface in daily experience. Theo holds a PhD from Curtin University and degrees in Fine Art and Literary Studies. Their work is held in collections including the Art Gallery of South Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, The Cruthers Collection, Murdoch University and John Curtin Gallery. Theo writes fiction in a range of forms; their short story ‘Meniscus’ was published in Global Dystopias by The Boston Review, edited by Junot Díaz in 2017. Their critical writing includes the book chapter & Ruination and Recollection: Plumbing the Colonial Archive’ in Visual Arts Practice and Affect: Place, Materiality, and Embodied Knowing, edited by Ann Schilo for Rowman & Littlefield in 2016.
Theo Costantino is a queer non-binary artist based on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja / Perth, and Executive Director of ART ON THE MOVE. Their practice includes drawing, sculpture, video, photography, written works and performance. They have exhibited and undertaken residency projects within Australia, Europe, the UK and USA both in a solo capacity and collaboratively. Broadly, Theo’s work investigates the representation and memorialisation of the past: the use and abuse of history, the continuing influence of the past on the present, and the ways in which repressed or forgotten material can resurface in daily experience. Theo holds a PhD from Curtin University and degrees in Fine Art and Literary Studies. Their work is held in collections including the Art Gallery of South Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, The Cruthers Collection, Murdoch University and John Curtin Gallery. Theo writes fiction in a range of forms; their short story ‘Meniscus’ was published in Global Dystopias by The Boston Review, edited by Junot Díaz in 2017. Their critical writing includes the book chapter & Ruination and Recollection: Plumbing the Colonial Archive’ in Visual Arts Practice and Affect: Place, Materiality, and Embodied Knowing, edited by Ann Schilo for Rowman & Littlefield in 2016.
The prestigious John Stringer Prize – created in 2015 in honour of acclaimed curator, the late John Stringer (1937–2007) – commissions six contemporary Western Australian artists to create new work from which the winning artist will be determined by a secret ballot conducted by The Collectors Club members.
The exhibition features new work created specifically for the Prize by Merrick Belyea, Theo Costantino, Daniel Kristjansson, Clare McFarlane, Ross Potter and Lea Taylor, in a range of media including drawing, painting, photography, installation and textiles.
The John Stringer Prize is a non-acquisitive, annual award aimed at recognising and supporting outstanding Western Australian visual art practice and is generously supported by The Collectors Club and the Kerry Stokes Collection. The Prize was established in memory of John Stringer, renowned Curator of the Kerry Stokes Collection and advisor to The Collectors Club, who passed away in 2007. It honours John’s life and the legacy of his influence on and contribution to local visual arts and culture. In keeping with John’s passionate devotion to the arts, and his wish to see greater patronage of local talent, the Prize is intended to encourage and support Western Australian artists.
The Prize, which was conceived and facilitated by The Collectors Club, connects locally based artists with collectors, thus contributing to the vibrancy and economic viability of the Western Australian art scene.
The John Stringer Prize 2021 is open 19 November – 15 December 2021.
