- the winner of the £10000 Ruth Borchard Prize 2023
- the Exhibition - Online
- the Self Portraits - the good and less good aspects
- the lack of an Archive
Sadly, for those of use who used to visit the exhibition of diverse self-portraits by a varied collection of artists, theexhibition is only available ONLINE ONLY at present - until December 2023.
However there will be a curated selection of distinguished and
shortlisted artworks (that means NOT all the selected art) on display
in an exhibition at
The Atkinson Museum, Southport, from September - December 2023. The exhibition will coincide with the
Liverpool Arts Biennial in 2023.
Ruth Borchard Prize 2023 (£10,000)
The winner is Colin Davidson
Colin Davidson is a contemporary artist, living and working near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since graduating in 1991 from the University of Ulster with a first-class honours degree, he has structured his practice in themes, and since 2010 his focus has been on painting grand scale portraits, which have won widespread recognition and many international awards. As well as numerous commissions, Davidson’s portrait sitters have included Brad Pitt, Ed Sheeran, Liam Neeson, Brian Friel, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Christy Moore, Dame Mary Peters, Gary Lightbody, Marketa Irglova, Glen Hansard, Mark Knopfler and Seamus Heaney. His work is held in many public and corporate collections worldwide (from his website)
This was his winning artwork which he calls a 3D Painting. I guess, this is his original digital submission
and it does suggest scale rather effectively - and is maybe a bit bigger
than people imagined?
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Acrylic paint and oil paint on Polylactic acid
105 x 78 x 54 cm | 41 3/8 x 30 3/4 x 21 1/4 in
POA
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As a painter, I am always looking for opportunities to use paint in new ways. To exploit the myriad different possibilities which oil paint, in particular, has to offer. Here is a recent self-portrait. I suppose it’s a big, 3-dimensional selfie. But it is, first and foremost, a framed, wall-hung painting. Using the medium of acrylic and oil paint itself to sculpt with.The announcement was made via video and can be viewed on:
- Gabriele Finaldi (Director of the National Gallery),
- Melanie Gerlis (Financial Times Art Market Columnist),
- Andrea Rose (former Director of the British Council),
- Stephen Whittle (Principal Manager The Atkinson Museum),
- Lucy Jones (2021 Prize Winner) and
- David Borchard (grandson of Ruth Borchard).
(When they say "included" does that mean other people were involved
too - and if so who are these Judges?)
The Ruth Borchard Exhibition - Online
The Self-Portrait Prize Online Exhibition presents a selection of noteworthy entries to the 2023 competition. It highlights the diversity of contemporary self-portraiture and the continuing importance of this uniquely personal subgenre of art. The Online Exhibition includes a cross-section of self-portraits from around the world, made by artists at all stages of their careers in a range of media
Given the Prize is run on a triennial basis, all the portraits have been
made in the last three years.
- it's easy to move between the images - once you spot the very faint arrow to the right of the screen
- each image can be viewed at scale - on a wall
- each page of individual self-portraits indicates whether
- it is the eventual exhibition at Southport
- it was shortlisted for the prize e.g.
- each comes with a narrative (or not) as decided by the artist. I wish a few more took time out to think about words.....
- all images are for sale
- all of the images can be shared on social media - although the crop used does not always benefit the artwork or the artist - see below to see what I mean......
I don't understand why display of one image per screen stop at the letter G which just seems very, very weird. (i.e. the arrow for the next exhibit disappears after Glen Gashi.
There are more artists - but you have to go back to the main page to find them.
The Self Portraits
I know and/or have met some of the artists - and, oddly, some of their
self-portraits do not look like the artist at all. While others are
absolutely spot on - as per usual.
Even more odd, some of the portraits have a different name to that of the artist - almost as if the artist didn't understand it's supposed to be a self portrait!
Some of the artists are ones who I have met and have featured in
- past series of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, or
- Annual Exhibitions by national art societies - including the Royal Society of Portrait Painters;
- the BP Portrait Prize - indeed it includes at least one winner!
Some of the artists have used less usual media - such as
- Procreate - see Laura Arnold (who was also shortlisted for the prize)
- Digital print - see Rachel Ara
- Neon - see Chila Kumari Singh Burman
- Video
- Acrylic paint and oil paint on Polylactic acid - see winner
One of the most effective, in my opinion was Self Portrait as Still Life with Slide Sheet (2023) by Joel Ely - when viewed in conjunction with his experience of the pandemic
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Oil on canvas 55 x 185 cm | 21 5/8 x 72 7/8 in |
Very disappointing - no archive
What's very disappointing is that The Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize for some unknown reason has NO ARCHIVE!
I find it very disappointing when an organisation which runs a prize
seeking digital entries and then delivers an online exhibition at the
end of it does NOT archive images from all previous exhibition. Part
of the reputation of the exhibition is based on past winners and past
selections by reputable Judges of artwork judged worthy of exhibition.
Indeed I'd go so far as to say
the mark of a PREMIER portrait competition is that the website
includes ALL selected images from ALL previous exhibitions.
Even those that no longer exist - such as the BP Portrait Prize
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| Links to Past Exhibitions of the BP Portrait Award |
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