The Threadneedle Figurative Prize

The Mall Galleries are championing innovation and excellence in figurative art by launching a brand new art prize designed to showcase the best in new contemporary figurative art. Two major prizes offer the chance to win a total of £35,000: the £25,000 Threadneedle Figurative Prize and the £10,000 Federation of British Artists Selectors' Choice.
Threadneedle Figurative Prize

A major new prize in the UK Art World is always a welcome innovation, especially when it has the backing of the organisations that are involved with this one (see end).

However this is a prize with a difference. The Threadneedle Figurative Prize will be decided by a public vote with voting available on-line and throughout the exhibition. The shortlist of seven works from which the public will choose the winner will be determined by a panel of distinguished selectors.

The competition welcomes direct and authentic statements on themes of topical social, political or environmental interest, as well as re-workings of other traditional figurative themes......The selectors will also welcome submissions that innovate and stretch the boundaries of traditional figurative media, without compromising technique or artistic excellence.
Threadneedle Figurative Prixe - Artist Info and Registration

Below you can fine my summary of what seem to the key points of interest to artists, however obviously it's essential that all those interested in submitting work need to take the time to read the complete 'need to know' page on the Threadneedle Figurative prize website. plus And then read them again!

What are the Prizes? The competition offers the chance to win two major prizes and a total of £35,000: the £25,000 Threadneedle Figurative Prize and the £10,000 Federation of British Artists Selectors' Choice.

Who can submit? The competition is open - but entrants are limited to all artists aged 18 or over on 1 January 2008, living or working in the UK.

What sort of work is eligible?

There are no specific themes or subjects to follow, however, this competition is restricted to ‘figurative' and representational work i.e. work which retains a strong reference to the real world and, in particular, to the human figure.
Threadneedle Figurative Prize - what to submit

It's important to note that all work must have been completed since January 2007 and must not have been submitted or exhhibited in any other prize or competition in the UK or elsewhere. It's not clear to me whether that makes work which has been submitted to any exhibition which has prizes (as opposed to exhibitions like the Singer Friedlander or Jerwood or the Lynn Painter-Stainer - which are all about entrants to a competition with major prizes) are ruled ineligible or not. There's an Open Day at the Mall Galleries on 19th April.

What sort of media is eligible?

The media used may include oil, tempera, acrylic, ink, vinyl, watercolour and other dry media and can be on any form of support (canvas, paper, wood, plastic etc.). Acceptable entries also include original prints and drawings, sculpture, mixed media constructions, small-scale moving image installations, relief and other figurative installations, but not photography or video.
Threadneedle Figurative Prize - what to submit

This is a very wide range of media and it means, for those of us who delight in drawing and dry media, that pastels and/or coloured pencils and/or graphite are all eligible! It's interesting that both subject - figurative - and media lean towards the more traditional. However, judging by entrants to shows by societies which are members of the Federation, I'm sure that there will be a number of very contemporary treatments of both subject matter and media.

How many works can I submit? You can submit up to three works.

How do I submit work? Those used to submitting work to FBA Society exhibitions need to note that the process is a bit different from usual but is similar to that adopted for the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy.

First, all people wanting to submit work need to register first - by completing an online form before 20 June 2008. The registration process requires payment by credit card of registration fee of £15 per work (or £10 if you are an FBA society member or NUS student). You also need to have the details of the works you intend to submit - so no speculative registrations! Alternatively you can obtain a paper entry form on provision of details and submission of a registration fee.

All works submitted must be labelled with the correct labels. Exhibition labels are now available as a pdf file. These are exactly the same as the labels used for all works submitted via the FBA offices for FBA Society exhibitions - which means it's worth downloading the file just to have a spare set!

All sculpture and all two dimensional work exceeding 2.4 metres (7 feet 10 and half inches) on the longest dimension are subject to a pre-selection process based on 3 images of the work submitted on CD by 20 June.

What does it cost? Works for sale will have a commission of 35% plus VAT charged on the price paid for works sold during or as a result of the exhibition. Plus the fee for work payable as identified above.

What's the deadline? The website contains details of key dates.

• Registration: All artists wishing to submit need to register by 20th June 2008.
  
• Receiving Days: Works should be delivered, unpacked, to the administration offices of the Mall Galleries at 17 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5BD between 10:00am and 5:00pm on Sunday 6 July 2008; Monday 7 July 2008 and Tuesday 8 July 2008
• Alternative collection points around the UK: between 28 June - 3 July. Details available on the website
• Collection days: Work not selected for exhibition must be collected between 17th and 19th July from the FBA Offices in Carlton House Terrace or else a fee will be incurred for retrieval from their agents.
  

Who are the selectors? The Selectors are:

• Richard Cork - an award-winning art critic, historian, broadcaster and exhibition curator;
• Angela Flowers - the owner of a leading London Gallery; and
  
• William Packer - an artist, educator and curator.

When's the exhibition? The exhibition will be held in the Mall Galleries between 20th August and 6th September.

How will the public vote? The public will be invited to cast one vote at the exhibition or one vote by email, on a ‘one email, one vote' basis. I'll be asking the FBA how they propose to deal with the fact that many people now have more than one e-mail!

Anything else important? You should note that it is a condition of entry that works exhibited may be photographed and filmed for Press purposes in connection with the exhibition and that all work which is accepted into the exhibition will be available to view online.

Organisations The prize is being organised by the Federation of British Artists which is a registered charity and the umbrella organisation for nine leading art societies, listed on the left. Its aim is to inspire, educate and involve the public in the appreciation and practice of fine art by contemporary artists. The exhibition will be held in the Mall Galleries in The Mall which is the home of exhibitions by societies and members of the FBA. The prize takes the name of the company - Threadneedle Asset Management - which has sponsored last year's very impressive renovation of the Mall Galleries. It's also sponsored by Arts and Business which helps business people support the arts & the arts inspire business people.

Note: Thanks to Bob and the UKCPS Blog to alerting me to this new competition!

Links:

• Threadneedle Figurative Prize, Mall Galleries,17 Carlton House Terrace,London SW1Y 5BD Tel. 0207 930 6844 e-mail threadneedleprize@mallgalleries.com
• the prizes
• what to submit
  
• Need to Know
• registration
• key dates
• exhibition labels