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| Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015 - a view of the end wall of the Main Gallery |
The exhibition is at the Mall Galleries until 4pm on Saturday 4th July 2015. It's open every day from 10am and there's a late night on Friday and then it finishes at 4pm on Saturday.
186 artworks have been selected from the 1,000 entries to the competition. A further 38 artworks were selected but not hung
In the Threadneedle Space are small sketches by David Shepherd and large paintings and sculptures by invited artists.
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| Artwork from invited artists in the Threadneedle SpaceStefano Zagaglia, Adam Binder and Simon Max Bannister |
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| More artwork in the Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015 exhibition at the Mall Galleries |
- WAY 2015 Wildlife Artist of the Year (186 items)
- WAY 2015 Wildlife Artist of the Year - Selected not hung (38 items)
- WAY 2015 Wildlife Artist of the Year - Guest Artist (43 items)
Below you can find out about:
- the prizewinners - including who won the £10,0000 Wildlife Artis of the Year
- artwork I liked
- an interesting new initiative - which any art society could copy
- some comments on how a good exhibition could be even better
The exhibition produces a really nice catalogue with the artwork very sensibly sorted into categories which makes it very easy for those thinking about entering next year to see the overall type and standard of artwork selected for the exhibition - in the different categories.
For those entering the 2016 Wildlife Artist of the Year, I recommend trying to get hold of a copy as you can then see the artwork by category very easily.
Major Prizewinners
Nick Mackman won the £10,000 Wildlife Artist of the Year (2015). She also the Wildlife in 3D Category for sculpture in any medium. |
| Nick Mackman with her ceramic warthogs titled "Sleepy Heads" Winner of Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015 £10,000 prize money is sponsored by Mr and Mrs Covey Image: copyright Rowena Chowdrey | Used with permission of WAY |
Dafila also won the Contemporary Category - for artwork which challenges traditional boundaries.
Dafila Scott is the daughter of the naturalist - and painter - Sir Peter Scott and the granddaughter of Captain Robert Falcon Scott ('Scott of the Antarctic'). You can see Dafila's paintings of the Antarctic (and penguins!) on her website.
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| Cranes on the Fen by Dafila Scott Runner Up and Winner of the Contemporary Category Acrylic and Mixed Media, 38 x 25cm £600 [SOLD] |
Category award winners
The Category winners each receive £500.Endangered Wildlife
any wild animal or plant that is threatened or endangered nationally or internationally – White Ghost by Atsushi Harada |
| White Ghost by Atsushi Harada Gouache, 57cm x 81cm (22.4" x 31.9"), £1,100.00 [SOLD] |
Wild World
any scene or landscape showing the natural environment – Noisy Neighbours by Tony FeldDespite walking round three times I missed this one! Click the link in the title to see the real thing. My personal preference was for his wonderful painting of puffins.
Portraits
where any wild animal(s) features as the main focus – Autruches by Francois Gruson - who also had another unusual work selected (but not hung) |
| Autruches by Francois Gruson pencil, 203 x 78cm. £3,000 [SOLD] |
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| The Monochrome Feature wall was excellent - works covered a variety of categories It's a great example of how selecting the right type of frame can make or break a drawing, painting or print. The neutral frames did not compete with the artwork. |
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| Bee (1) by Patricia Rozental Etching and aquatint, 22 x 25cm (£95 - edition of 15) [1 SOLD] |
Monochrome
Any wild animal or landscape drawn in tones of any one colour – Cold Shoulder by Terry Miller |
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Graphite, 44 x 35cm £800
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Young & Wild
open to 17-25 year olds covering all categories – Storm Damage by Holly Brookes |
| Storm Damage by Holly Brookes Sandpaper Aquatint - Edition of 10, 50cm x 60cm (19.7" x 23.6"), £200.00 |
Silver Artist
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| The Silent Watcher by Barry Sutton ceramic (£3,600) |
It's great to see an art competition making an award to older artist. So many artists only start making artin life that they're just getting into the swing of it by the time get get to 60!
Interestingly the winner of this award is a very respected sculptor and modelmaker. H e used to work for British Museum (Natural History) where he made an extensive study of animal anatomy and rose to become Head of the Museum’s Model-making Department.
The David Shepherd Choice
It must be a major perk - if not a boast - to have a wildlife artwork chosen as David Shepherd's favourite in the competition! The piece chosen this year is The Valley – Sharpenhoe by Heather Irvine. I liked this one a lot - particularly the fact that it placed behaviour within a habitat context. You just 'know' the bird is hovering...Heather was the the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year in 2012.
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| The Valley, Sharpenhoe by Heather Irvine Oil on Canvas, 76cm x 61cm (29.9" x 24"), £695.00 |
The Artist Magazine Award - selected by the editor of The Artist Magazine (feature article for the successful artist in The Artist magazine) - Curlews by Lisa Hooper
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| Curlews by Lisa Hooper Hand coloured collagraph, 91cm x 73cm (35.8" x 28.7"), £400 [SOLD] |
Highly Commended
- Freda Cheung – The Horn (contemporary)
- Martin Buffery – Stroll on Galapagos Tortoise (portrait)
- Paul Hawdon – Spider (orginal print)
- Neil Taylor – Last Light Black Rhino (endangered)
- Christine Dadd – Carpathian Wolf Aiyana (portrait)
- Terry Miller – The Last Day of Summer (monochrome)
- Lisa Hooper – A Stand of Plovers (original print)
- Stella Mayes – Frozen Kingdom (wild world)
- Nick Mackman – Thandi’s Girl (3D)
- Angela Smith – African Queen (endangered)
- White on Silver - Nick Oneill (portrait)
- David Filer – The King (monochrome)
- Philip Nelson – Shoveler Pair (3D)
- Christine Lamberth – The Commodity (endangered)
- Karl Taylor – Amma’s Chandeliers Indian House Crows (contemporary)
- Sarah Drummond – The Clamdigger (original print)
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| Rushing by Ching Kek How Drawing, 247cm x 103cm (97.2" x 40.6"), Chinese ink on paper |
People's Choice
The final prize is People’s Choice which is chosen by visitors to the exhibition and announced at the end of the week-long exhibition. Both the chosen artist and a winner drawn from visitors votes, win a prize.This is the piece I voted for - it's right in the centre of the end wall in the Main Gallery - usually regarded as a top spot!
It's by a Chinese artist called Ching Kek How who's producing some really excellent work.
I'd love to know he gets the drawing on the background support. I also assume it rolls but would like to know how!
Some Observations on the Exhibition
There's a good range of art media and approaches to making art in the show which makes it interesting to look at.The importance of sketching
I liked the fact David Shepherd included small sketches and studies in a variety of media - finished and unfinished. It's an accessible way of owning his art. It also reminds people that wildlife art does not start with sitting down at an easel!
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| Sketches by David Shepherd |
Coloured pencil art
I noticed that there's an awful lot of coloured pencil drawings in the exhibition - and those who like wildlife art and use coloured pencils might want to make a note of this!
Fine Art Prints
Most of the work is originals which of course can only be sold once. I'd like to see more original fine art prints which of course can generate repeats sales within an edition. I see lots at the SWLA Exhibition and was rather surprised not to see more in this exhibition.
There's wildlife and there's wildlife
How about a prize for British Wildlife? Content of the exhibition is naturally influenced by the project supported by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. That does make for an awful lot of big cats! However I'd like to see more 'normal' British wildlife featured in contexts which are not necessarily exotic or cost an arm or a leg to get to!
I liked these two paintings by Karl Taylor which to me exemplified a number of points made in this commentary.
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| Two paintings of UK birds by Karl Taylor |
Signatures
Some artists need lessons - or guidance - in signatures. Signatures can lose you prizes and/or commendations.....
See my website How to sign a painting, drawing or fine art print
Framing
I think there's a very good reason why all the artworks which have won prizes have nice and/or neutral frames. Such frames allow the artwork to speak and don't drown it.In my opinion there are a few too many frames in the exhibition which should not be there. Either they are too demanding on the eye and attract attention away from the artwork or they are just too fussy for wildlife art which, in my opinion, works much better with simple frames which avoid the use of gilt.
In my view a note to artists about requirements re. framing would not go amiss. It seems to me so much of what is presented in the show is artwork produced by people who are not used to London exhibitions and framing styles.
The advantage to both artist and the organisers is an initiative to provide better guidance might see improved sales. After all, when you know you will have to remove a frame and replace it with another, that changes the overall cost of a work!
Certainly if there were two artworks of equal artistic weight and one had a neutral frame and the other had a "look at me" and/or OTT frame I know which one would not make it into the exhibition.....
Art Postcards
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| Postcard Art |
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| Postcard by Simon Conolly - it's a murmuration of starlings very simple and subtle |
The artists selected for the exhibition were asked to contribute a postcard which has been sold for £50 with 100% going to charity.
Small works are of course the stepping stone to creating new art collectors and at £50 an awful lot of people can join in with buying art!
Plus it's been an extremely good earner for the charity. If they all sell they will have raised £38,000!
I bought one! It's a graphite drawing of the work by Simon Conolly which is sculpted in clay in the main exhibition.
Here's the Call for Entries post for this year's exhibition - Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015 - Call for Entries
The 2015 Wildlife Artist of the Year is generously supported by: Tilney Bestinvest, Mr & Mrs Covey, Barlow Robbins, Gary Hodges, Powertraveller, Carol Cordrey, The Oliver Foundation & SilverSurfers.com. More information at http://www.davidshepherd.org/way/
Gorgeous, gorgeous work! Makes me wish I could see it in person. I thought the postcard art was a great idea. Thanks Katherine for doing such a great job (in spite of the humidity :-))
ReplyDeleteLovely review of the exhibition, I think the standard gets stronger and stronger every year, although I agree with your view that more British wildlife should be represented. I ummed and aaahed over that same postcard for ages, meaning to come back and buy it! Loved his sculpture.
ReplyDeleteDear Katharine,
ReplyDeleteThank you for creating a fantastic blog and helping me to keep up with all the fascinating exhibitions and competitions going on in the UK. Having followed your blog for several years, it has been a source of inspiration and motivation! Many thanks!
Might pop in next week. Love the postcard wall, would be a good idea for the SBA exhibition Katherine
ReplyDelete