In response to increasing concerns around the impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and in order to protect the health and wellbeing of artists, visitors, staff and the wider community, we have made the decision to postpone both the Derwent Art Prize exhibitions in London and in Paris. We will however be launching a virtual gallery so all the amazing artworks selected for the shortlist will be still be displayed. We have also decided to increase the People’s Choice Award to include an additional winner, now totalling 2 winners with a share of £1,000 prize money.
This year again, the Derwent Art Prize received many fantastic entries from all around the world. 1,884 artists from 72 different countries sent in 4,756 artworks… leaving our judges, Victoria Pomery, Charles Avery and Alice Rawsthorn, spoilt for choice! Here’s what they had to say about the selection process…
Angela Edwards, End of the Day
Greg Genestine-Charlton, Counting the Minutes
1. The number and quality of entries were impressive
“Judging the Derwent Art Prize has been a fascinating process”, said Victoria Pomery, Director of Turner Contemporary, “There were so many wonderful entries demonstrating the creativity of artists based in the UK and beyond.”
As the judges went through every single one of the submissions, artist Charles Avery told us “I was struck, not only by the huge amount of entries, but the dedication and effort on display.”
In fact, the high amount and calibre of artworks gave our three judges a lot of work! Writer and art critic Alice Rawsthorn noted that “selecting the strongest works for the exhibition was hugely enjoyable and intensely difficult because so many people submitted entries for the prize, and the quality was so high.”
Maree Hughes, 15
Oluwatobi Adewumi, Double Sided
2. The final selection is incredibly diverse
Eventually, the Derwent Art Prize judges managed to narrow the shortlist down to 70 pieces by 64 different artists. Their artworks will now be showcased in a virtual gallery with the London and Paris exhibitions postponed to later this year. All the shortlisted entries will still be eligible to a total prize fund of £13,000*.
“Drawing and working on paper is the most accessible and direct means of expression for many people: those we have chosen reflect the great diversity of practice today”, explained Charles Avery. Together, these pieces create an extremely diverse exhibition, going from spontaneous sketches to meticulous drawings, from black pencil to multicolour, and from hyper-realistic to abstract.
“There were so many entries with diverse techniques, materials and subject matter”, remarqued Alice Rawsthorn, “from loving realised portraits of children or dogs, to incisive, but bleak depictions of acute social problems.”
*Prize money has now been increased to £13,000 due to the addition of a second People’s Choice Award.
Chris Haywood, 2
Olga Rocher, Brown Dog
3. And the selected artists are…
Here are the 64 artists shortlisted for the Derwent Art Prize exhibition 2020:
Adam Forman, Agata Tkaczyk, Akash Bhatt, Alexandra Blum, Alexandra Phillips, Alice Motte-Muñoz, Andy Thornley, Angela Edwards, Bai Yujia, Carole Bury, Caryl Beach, Charlie Calder-Potts, Chris Haywood, Chunxiao Fu, Csenge Kindli, Daniel Crawshaw, Dene Leigh, Emily Ball, Emma Davis, Erzsebet Kis-Nagy, Faye Bridgwater, Frances Chapman, Greg Genestine-Charlton, Hana Kanee, Harriet Mena Hill, Helen Glover, Hugh Gillan, Illia Nesterov, Janine Hall, Jonny Atkinson, Kate Black, Katie Sollohub, Kevin John Pocock, Kit Yan Chong, Liana Moran, Maree Hughes, Mary Herbert, Michael Page, Mithil Thaker, Olga Rocher, Olivia Parsons, Oluwatobi Adewumi, Paul Digby, Raizel Frankl-Slater, Rebecca Bramwell, Richard Baker, Rosie Park, Russell Herron, Sally Muir, Sandra Porter, Sarinah Haba, Simon Granell, Sophie Bartlett, Sophie Twiss, Stephen Clifton, Stephen West, Steven Walker, Susie Hamilton, Tijs van Bakel, Tyga Helme, Wayne Clough, Wendy Brooke-Smith, Witte Wartena, Xuetong Wang.
Thank you to all who participated and congratulations to our final 64 artists! Once again we are very sorry to announce the postponement of the London and Paris exhibitions but we will be displaying all shortlisted artwork in a virtual gallery soon.
Stay tuned for more information about on the virtual gallery and the winners of the Derwent Art Prize.