Artist Alex J Wood has been announced as the winner of the prestigious Picton Art Prize, as his winning work ‘Celestial’ was unveiled at a ceremony in Islington. The award-winning artist’s dramatic bronze sculpture Angel is north London’s newest piece of public art. Meanwhile HRH The Prince Of Wales was presented with a bronze bust created from life by the well known Royal sculptor Frances Segelman.
Mr Wood’s sculpture was created in the London Bronze Casting foundry, the impressive bronze sculpture will stand at 2 metres high, and is located as a centrepiece within Picton’s Angel Gate development, EC1.
The Picton Art Prize judges comment that: “British eccentricity is a significant area of Alex’s practice, as well as the notions of obsessiveness through the creation of very intricate models. He combines lo-fi materials such as paper or wax with a high art material such as bronze, juxtaposing the two materials together to create amusing sculptures that portray narratives relating to human endeavour.”
Tim Hamlin, of sponsors, Picton, said: “We are delighted to announce Alex J Wood as the winner of the Picton Art Prize. In developing the prize, we specifically wanted to recognise new and emerging talent. We are thrilled to support the talent developed at UAL, which is reflected in the high quality of the shortlist.”
Alex graduated from Chelsea College of Arts in 2014, with an MA in Fine Art. In 2014 Alex was the first Foundry Fellow at Camberwell College of Arts where he created a series of space travel inspired bronzes including ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, a bronze space rocket based upon the 1902 Georges Méliès film “A Trip to the Moon”. ‘Hidden Depths’, is verdigris green patinated bronze with an ambiguous form now in The Patrick and Kelly Lynch collection.
In 2015 Alex was shortlisted for both The Mark Tanner Sculpture Award and The Henry Moore Plinth Prize, and in 2014 he was selected for art residency in Beijing. In April 2013 Alex was resident artist at Tokyo Wonder Site in Japan, and exhibited in Tokyo and London.
Nigel Carrington, Vice-Chancellor, UAL, said: “It’s vital that we support our students and graduates in the early stages of their careers, offering them opportunities to develop their practice and extend themselves, as well as high profile platforms on which to showcase their work to new audiences. The Picton Art prize offers just this.”
Alex was recently commissioned by Penguin Books to create a sculpture for Foyles Flagship London store. Whilst studying for his MA Fine Art at Chelsea, Alex was the 2013 recipient of The Patrick and Kelly Lynch Scholarship. His work is held in various private collections in the USA and Europe as well as the University of the Arts London collection. In both 2013 and 2014 he was shortlisted for The Clifford Chance Sculpture Award.
The Picton Art Prize juding panel comprised artists Susanna Heron and Nick Hornby; Head of Arts and Culture for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Adriana Marques; Picton Asset Manager, Tim Hamlin; and Director of External Relations, Central Saint Martins, UAL, Stephen Beddoe.
At Buckingham Palace, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales was presented with a bronze bust of himself as he celebrated the 40th anniversary of The Prince’s Trust.
The statue, which was created by sculptress Frances Segelman, was unveiled during a garden party for more than 5000 of the charity’s supporters and beneficiaries at Buckingham Palace.
Complete with military attire, the bust was created over four separate sittings with HRH between 2013 and 2015. The sculpture, which was donated by the Jack Petchey Foundation as contribution towards the 40th anniversary celebrations, will be installed at Prince’s Trust House in London.
The bust was formally presented to HRH by Frances Segelman (aka Lady Petchey). Frances Segelman is one of the leading sculptors in Britain having previously created busts of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
The Garden Party marked 40 years of The Prince’s Trust, which has seen more than 825,000 young people directly supported by the charity since 1976 with thousands more having fundraised, volunteered or worked with the charity over the years. In its 40th year, The Trust is calling on people to share stories and images about their involvement with the youth charity on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #partofPT.
Frances Segelman said: “It was such an incredible privilege to sculpt HRH The Prince of Wales. I created the bust over four sittings, and then added finishing touches using pictures. He was a very charming and caring person who had a clear interest in the arts. I was thrilled with the final result and it was an added privilege for the presentation to take place during The Prince’s Trust 40thanniversary celebrations.”