Lauren Simeoni with her lane rope necklace
Inaugural ‘SALA in Lights Award’ goes to Tony Kearney for offering[s]
At the conclusion of SALA 2025, Tony was named the inaugural winner of the ‘SALA in Lights Award’ for offering[s]. His medium and large format film portraits of SA artists will have a second life during SALA 2026, by being projected onto a wall adjacent to the entrance of the State Library of SA on North Terrace. This will take place every night from the 1st through to the 17th of August, from 6.00pm to midnight. Feel free to contact Tony to discuss purchasing a print, framed or unframed.
Rosie Hannam+Tom Moore (Diptych)
01 Aldo Iacobelli
02 Alfie Lowe
03 Alison Main
04 Alyssa Powell
05 Tom Borgus+Amber Cronin
06 Andrew Purvis
07 Angela Gordon
08 Angela Valamanesh
09 Felicity Sando+Anthony Coupe
10 Cath Trueman
11 Chira Grasby
12 Christine Cholewa
13 Chris Orchard
14 Claire Wildish
15 Clare Belfrage
16 Cynthia Schwertsik
17 Datsun Tran
18 Dave Court
19 David Hume
20 Deb Paauwe
21 Deirdre Feeney
22 Donovan Christie
23 Eleanor Alice
Ena Grozdanic
25 Fran Callen
26 Hugh Freytag
27 Jade Harland
28 Jasmine Crisp
29 Jeffrey Harris
30 Jingwai Bu
31 John Neylon
33 Josie Mortimer
32 Johnnie Dady
34 Judith Klavins
35 Julia Robinson
36 Julie Blyfield
37 Kasia Tons
38 Kate Hendry
39 Kate Breakey
40 Ken Orchard
41 Kirsten Coelho
42 Will Cheesman+Laura Wills
43 Lauren Simeoni
44 Mark Kimber
45 Mark Valenzuela
46 Mia Fan
47 Nancy Downs
48 Narelle Autio
49 Nicholas Folland
50 Nici Cumpston
51 Peter Johnson
52 Quentin Gore
53 Raymond Zada
54 Rosie Hannam
55 Rossina Possiingham
56 Roy Ananda
57 Scott Coleman
58 Sera Waters
59 Silvia Stansfield
60 Steph Fuller
61 Sue Kneebone
62 Sue Lorraine
63 Susie Jenkins
64 Suzie Lockery
65 Thom Buchanan
66 Tim Edwards
67 Tom Moore
68 Tom Phillips
69 Tony Kearney, portrait artist
70 Trent Parke
71 Tsering Hannaford
72 Ursala Halpin
73 Yasmine Sabuncu
74 Zaacharia Fielding
For this project, South Australian artists were invited to have their film portraits taken with something they cherished, something that inspired them or something they had made (could be all three)
Copy below taken from the “praxis ARTSPACE” website where offering[s] was first exhibited during SALA 2025
“offering[s] is a compelling photographic survey by award-winning South Australian photographer Tony Kearney, comprising seventy-five black and white portraits of contemporary South Australian artists. Created using medium and large format analogue processes, this series offers a timely and enduring visual archive of artistic identity and creative practice in the state.
Each portrait is the result of a collaborative gesture. Participating artists were invited to bring a personal object into the frame—an item that holds significance, evokes inspiration, or speaks to their practice. These artefacts, which range from handmade works to inherited tools or talismanic items, transform each image into a layered portrait of the artist’s inner world and creative lineage.
The decision to work in black and white film underscores Kearney’s commitment to craft and permanence. The aesthetic is both timeless and formally rigorous, offering collectors and institutions access to a rare and meticulously executed body of work that honours both subject and medium.
offering[s] holds particular significance for those invested in documenting and supporting South Australia’s cultural narrative. It is a project of enduring value for curators, archives and collectors seeking to engage with the living history of the region’s artistic ecology. At once a celebration and a record, this series captures a creative generation through the lens of one of the state’s most sensitive and observant photographic voices.”