Courtney Barnett, King Gizzard & More Named As ARIA Fine Arts Nominees

The drawings of Courtney Barnett and apparently jazz stylings of fuzz-lords King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are among the early nominees for this year's ARIA Awards, being named among the crop of artists and acts poised to take out the Fine Arts & Artisan prizes in the 2015 stakes.

Barnett picks up her nomination in the Best Cover Art category, for her hand-drawn casing for acclaimed full-length Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit — along with the likes of Daniel Johns, Aref & Peter Salmon (for Johns' Talk), Timothy Lovett (for Flight Facilities' Down To Earth) and Nathan Johnson (for Gang Of Youths' The Positions) — while the lads of King Gizz have taken out a surprise nomination in the running for Best Jazz Album, where they stare down competition from Allan Browne Quintet (Ithaca Bound), Barney McAll (Mooroolbark), Paul Grabowsky (Solo) and Sarah McKenzie (We Could Be Lovers).

Also among the better-known acts getting a look-in ahead of general-prize nominations are Gurrumul, whose Gospel Album is up for Best World Music Album alongside Christine Anu's Island Christmas and Baby Et Lulu's Album Deux, among others, while Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker gets a nod for his production work on Currents in the Engineer Of The Year category, as do Mitch Kenny (Hermitude — Dark Night Sweet Light), Nick Didia (The Waifs — Beautiful You), Virginia Read (Australian Brandenburg Orchestra — Brandenburg Celebrates) and Adrian Breakspear & Peter Holz (Gang Of Youths — The Positions).

"Congratulations to all of this year's nominees in the Fine Arts and Artisan Awards," ARIA chairman and Sony Music ANZ chair/chief executive and Sony Asia president Dennis Handlin AM said in a statement.

"The ARIA board is delighted to celebrate the diverse and talented Australian musicians and artisans in all seven categories. It will be a pleasure to join together with the nominees, labels and industry partners to recognise the excellent work, passion and contributions represented through these awards."

In keeping with the awards' tradition, ARIA have also revealed a commemorative artwork piece by 2015 Archibald Prize finalist and Koori visual artist Blak Douglas, who described his work in a statement:

"Generally my paintings are known for a sharp commentary on social justice and with quirky titles and poignant metaphors, often within a trademark 'Australiana' landscape. This year's ARIA design is of no exception."

"I immediately thought of the unearthed," he said. "The unsung, the undiscovered, the forgotten and the excluded. Only a very small percentage of talented musicians have their voices heard. Commodification... the make and break of the broadcasted voice. The visual metaphor in my design is the Thylacine. Its vocal frustration goes unheard within then treacherous landscape spiked with awards. A virtual minefield of opportunity. The road sign indicates the journey ahead. The rewards will come so long as there's enough fuel in the tank."

The winners of the 2015 ARIA Fine Arts & Artisan awards will be unveiled at this year's Nominations Event in Sydney on Wednesday 7 October, at which time we'll also find out the broader spread of artists and acts up for the more 'mainstream' awards, ahead of the big night at The Star Event Centre on Thursday, 26 November, once again during ARIA Week (from 20 November).

See the full list of nominees below.

2015 aria awards: fine arts nominees

best classical album

best jazz album

best original soundtrack/cast/show album

best world music album

2015 aria awards: artisan nominees

engineer of the year

producer of the year

best cover art