Balentine, an Atlanta-based boutique wealth management firm, established the Balentine Prize this year in conjunction with its sponsorship of the Atlanta Art Fair. The Balentine Prize recognizes an emerging artist from Atlanta or the Greater American South who demonstrates exceptional promise in their work, and aims to support and elevate the artist’s creative practice while also promoting the evolution of the contemporary art scene in the South.

Balentine and the Atlanta Art Fair are pleased to announce that artist Caroline Allison of Nashville, Tenn., was chosen as the inaugural recipient of the Balentine Prize for her piece, Book of Hours (Nones). Allison was selected by a jury composed of Mark Bell, Ph.D. a partner at Balentine, Atlanta Art Fair Artistic Director Nato Thompson, and independent curator Lauren Jackson Harris.

The work is a unique, hand-shaped, wall-relief photograph that measures 30” x 40” x 4” and is the newest piece from Allison’s recent series of Southern skyscapes. Taking inspiration from a medieval Book of Hours, the works feature images of cumulus clouds that evoke meditations, incantations, and prayers to the reliably changeable skies of the South. This specific piece from the collection takes its name from the Latin for the time of day that this image was captured – 3 pm. After printing the image, Allison wet and physically manipulated the print into a new permanent shape, transforming the flat print into a wavy wall relief echoing its billowing subject. Critic Laura Hutson writes that the work “challenges the formal boundaries that separate painting, photography and sculpture.”

“The Book of Hours, as a title for the collection, conjures up the medieval devotional discipline of contemplation and prayer,” said Mark Bell, Ph.D. “The work itself encourages interactive contemplation by breaking the two dimensional plane of the traditional canvas. We could not be more excited for Caroline to be the first recipient of the Balentine Prize.”

Balentine has acquired the Book of Hours (Nones) for its corporate art collection.