Recording Britain Now - exhibition and prizewinner

Recording Britain Now is the John Ruskin Prize 2014 exhibition I never thought I'd get to see. However a generous sponsor enabled it to be brought from Sheffield’s Millennium Gallery where it was first shown on was. It can be seen until the end of the month at The Electricians Gallery at Trinity Buoy Wharf.

It's an exhibition of drawings, paintings, prints and textiles by 23 artists shortlisted for the second John Ruskin Prize

The theme of the second prize exhibition is Recording Britain Now. Artists were invited to

...present fresh, contemporary visions of their urban, rural or social environment.

There were some 600 entries and the selection panel agreed on 23 images that offer

an engaging mix of materials, techniques and topical commentary, exploring urban sprawl, dereliction and the endangered British countryside.

You have one more week to see it. The exhibition continues until 30th November and is free. 

• Sun 23 Nov 12-5pm
• Wed 26 Nov 12-5pm
• Thu 27 Nov 4-8pm
• Fri 28 Nov 12-5pm
• Sat 29 Nov 12-5pm
• Sun 30 Nov 12-5pm

Here are some of the photographs I took last weekend when sketching there.  Note:

• how large some of the drawings are
• how some large drawings are not framed but rather are suspended from fishing wire lopped through small bulldog clips which attach to the sheet of paper. This seems to be have become an accepted way of showing large works on paper - if for no other reason than everybody avoids the problems with weight and the risk of broken glass!

The John Ruskin Prize

Former scientist and recent art graduate, Maggie Hargreaves, was awarded the £1,000 prize for

"two huge drawings revealing nature’s revenge on man’s despoliation of the countryside."

(Right) 'Slowly Creeping' (2011) by Maggie Hargreaves
charcoal on paper, 150x212 cm

(Left) Changing Space II (2009) by Maggie Hargreaves
150x220 cm, charcoal on paper

Here, built structures encroach on natural environments but as those structures are abandoned, no longer required, the woods reclaim what was taken, creeping back and re-establishing territory.The level of detail and large scale of these drawings invites viewers to enter the space depicted and spend time exploring it. Concurrently, as the drawings are approached, the image dissolves and the materiality and process are established; the artifice of the image construction is revealed as a piece of paper with handmade marks, pinned to the gallery wall. Drawing and erasing with charcoal reflects the transient shifting nature of the relationship between people and the surrounding living environment.
Ruskin Prize for Drawing 2014 - Winner! Maggie Hargreaves' blog

More photographs from the exhibition. 

I'm afraid still trying to find the listing which identified which drawing is which artist

I LOVED the textile landscape drawing!

The selected artists in the exhibition are: Anny Evason, Alex Hamilton, Ben Lingard, Colin Maxwell, Catherine Sutcliffe-Fuller, Chris Shaw Hughes, Dr Dolores de Sade, Darren Reid, Evy Jokhova, Gillian Swan, Hannah Brown, Ian Chamberlain, Jennifer Morgan, Michael Cox, Maggie Hargreaves, Mandy Payne, Philip Sanderson, Ros Ford, Rebecca Upton, Roanna Wells, Sonia Stanyard, Sarah Taylor- Silverwood, Sean Williams.

The John Ruskin Prize 2014 Selection Panel:

• Gill Saunders - Senior Curator of Prints, V&A
• Laura Oldfield Ford - Artist
• Sue Grayson Ford - Director, Campaign for Drawing
• Kirstie Hamilton - Museums Sheffield
• Clive Wilmer - Master, Guild of St George.