Thursday, August 15, 2013

Threadneedle Prize 2013 - Shortlist announced

The artists shortlisted for the Threadneedle Prize - standing outside the Mall Galleries
left to right: Seamus Moran, Andrew Cranston, Clare McCormack (in front), Ilona Szalay and Lisa Wright
(Harriet White is not present)
Photo: © 2013 Sophia Schorr-Kon Photography
The artworks shortlisted for the £30,000 Threadneedle Prize 2013 are displayed below - along with their details and the name of the artist (and link to website where available). Plus a summary of what I've gleaned from their websites and the press release.

The winner will be announced before the Exhibition opens on Tuesday 24 September 2013.

I've included all the images of the artwork with the longest dimensions all the same length although in reality they are very different sizes.  I suggest you note the size of some of the artwork!  The longest dimension of some of these is the same as the same height of a very tall man!  (For those who still work in feet 100cm = 3 feet 3⅜ inches)


After Canaletto
Oil on canvas, 152 x 198 cm, £8,000
by Andrew Cranston
Andrew Cranston is a Scot, born in Hawick.  He got his BA in Fine Art from Grays School of Art, Aberdeen in 1993 and an M.A. Painting at the Royal College of Art in 1996.  He's won a number of scholarships but this appears to be his first time shortlisted for a major UK art competition.  See more of his portfolio.  You probably can't see but on the back wall of his painting is a faint inscription which says The Modern Institute.  I confess I guessed it was a lampoon of modern art before being told that's exactly what it is.  I think this is a strong contender.
After Canaletto is a lampooning of contemporary art. It shows the gallerists Toby Webster and Andrew Hamilton of the Glasgow- based Modern Institute gallery standing dwarfed in a space and surrounded by crates of artists work as well as Scottish artist Jim Lambie’s distinctive striped floor pieces.

Dead Labour/Dead Labourer
Scaffolding plank woodblock, 185 x 100 cm
Woodblock £2,500,
Woodcut print £720 (Edition of 6, 4 available)
by Clare McCormack
Clare McCormack graduated this summer and had work in the The University of Leeds Fine Art Degree 2013 in June.  This is the first time she has been shortlisted for a major UK Art Prize.
Dead Labour/Dead Labourer is a large-scale woodcut portrait of the artist’s grandfather, who died of Asbestosis after a life working on building sites. It is cut from four used scaffolding planks, the rough, functional materials mirroring the subject.

Urban Burka
Training shoes, 44 x 17 x 23 cm, £3,000by 
by Seamus Moran
Séamus Moran grew up in the Midlands before graduating with a degree in Ceramics with glass from Birmingham Polytechnic in 1984.  He eventually moved to Cornwall in 1988 where he has exhibited locally. He began focusing on fine art sculpture in 2001. This appears to be the first time he has been shortlisted for a major art prize. For Urban Burka, Moran has fashioned a lucha libra wrestling mask from trainers.
Most of my work is about capturing a non-representational presence.

Lesson
Oil paint and resin on canvas, 70 x 50 cm, £1,600
by Ilona Szalay
Ilona Szalay was born in Beirut and is now based in London.  She studied at Oxford University for her BA and at Byam Shaw, University of the Arts for her MA. Her work has been exhibited at numerous London galleries. She was also selected for the Threadneedle Prize in 2012.
Lesson is a delicate painting depicting a swimming lesson. As with all her works, Szalay imbues the scene with a sinister power play between the character.

Goldmine
 Oil on canvas, 66 x 152 cm, £7,600 by 
by Harriet White
Harriet White lives and works in Bristol, UK.  She was born in Devon and studied at Falmouth Art College then Bath Spa University.  She graduated in 2001. Since then she has been successful  in exhibiting extensively in commercial galleries, art centres and major regional art societies around the UK.  Her large scale paintings of faces (which are not portraits) have been selected twice for the BP Portrait Award - in 2008 and 2011 (during what I refer to as the era of the "big heads") and twice for Holburne Portrait Prize.
My work involves large scale paintings reflecting conflicting senses of intimacy and glamour. 

The guiltys gaze on the innocent 
Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm, £9,400
by Lisa Wright
Lisa Wright lives and works in Cornwall.  She was awarded a first class degree by Maidstone College of Art and then trained at the Royal Academy Schools.  She was elected a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists in 1997. She has exhibited regularly at the RA Summer Exhibition for the last 20 years. She won the Hunting Prize in 2003 and the National Open Art Competition in 2009 (2nd in 2008) and has also won other prizes and been selected for numerous juried exhibitions. She has previously been selected for the Threadneedle Prize in 2009 and the Lynn Painter-Stainers in 2009 (prizewinner) and 2010.  Lisa is a strong contender for the prize.
The Guilty’s Gaze on the Innocent explores the embarrassment, confusion and awkwardness of adolescence and makes reference to 16th century portrait painting, likely to have been influenced by her two year residency with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Track record says the prize is Lisa's.

I must confess on my initial review (before I had the information about the artists - and had tracked back on their career histories) I would have expected the prize to be a close call between the paintings of Lisa Wright and Andrew Cranston.

I'll wait until I see the exhibition before commenting on the actual winner.  I'll also be doing my normal selection of a select six to ruminate on - although this time it looks like I'll be limited to predicting what the public will go for.  (I got this right last year!)

Don't forget that the £10,000 Visitors Choice Award is based on votes from the viewing public- PLUS you will also be able to vote for ANY of the artworks in the exhibition - but you can only vote at the exhibition.  The Visitors' Choice Award Winner will be announced on 10 October, 6-8pm.

The Threadneedle Prize Exhibition opens at the Mall Galleries on 25 September and closes on 12 October 2013

You can read more about the Selectors on my Call for Entries. I've also updated Threadneedle Prize 2013 - Selected Artists with links to the selected artwork which is now also exhibited on the website.

More about the Threadneedle Prize


For more about the Threadneedle Prize 2012 - and the Prize in earlier years - see my earlier posts (and images) below

2013 Threadneedle Prize


2012 Threadneedle Prize


2011 Threadneedle Prize 

Other information about art competitions in the UK

Art Competitions in the UK - this includes links to earlier years of the Threadneedle Prize

Exhibition
Posted by Making A Mark on Thursday, August 15, 2013
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