The Threadneedle Prize, which aims to showcase the very best in new, figurative and representational art, has announced the 2014 shortlist.
Selected from over 3,600 entries, the six finalists in line for the £20,000 Prize will all exhibit at London’s Mall Galleries this autumn. Inspired by landscape or the human figure, their work will be exhibited alongside 58 other entries selected for the 2014 edition of the Prize. The finalist will also receive a solo exhibition for a wider body of work at Mall Galleries in 2015.
Panel member Kevin Francis Gray said: “This year’s shortlist highlights the talent of practicing artists who both find ongoing inspiration in the human form and the abstraction of the human form, as indeed have generations of artists before them. This year’s prize shows the need for the support of a timeless response – that of interpreting our artistic experiences in a manner based in representation.”
The six shortlisted artists – Sue Williams A’Court, Thomas Allen, Sarah Ball, Tina Jenkins, David Teager- Portman and Craig Wylie – have been selected by a panel of experts comprising Arts Commissioning Editor and Art Critic at The Times, Nancy Durrant; Internationally exhibited and collected sculptor, Kevin Francis Gray; Independent Advisor and Curator of the Hiscox Collection, Whitney Hintz; and Gallerist and Founder of Art Dubai, John Martin, who has two gallery spaces in London.
Lewis McNaught, Director of Mall Galleries, who has overseen the Prize since its inception, adds: “The Threadneedle Prize exhibition gives a powerful voice to figurative art through a range of different subjects, techniques and mediums. This year’s shortlist of up and coming artists is taking the Prize to a new level of achievement. Visitors to the exhibition will also enjoy a selection of works by more established artists invited by guest curator Sacha Craddock. These complementary yet contrasting approaches to selection will reinforce the impact and influence that figurative art has within the context of contemporary art today.”
Guest curator Sacha Craddock’s selection in the ‘Curated Space’ will feature work by eight leading UK and international artists, all of whom use figurative art as their starting point. Together they will enhance and complete the exhibition’s comprehensive annual survey of Figurative Art Today.
The Threadneedle Prize was established in 2008 and has the continued support of Threadneedle Investments, a leading international investment manager, demonstrating their long-term commitment to supporting the arts. Through the Threadneedle Foundation, the company is committed to investing in the community, building partnerships that create positive social impact across a range of sectors, with a particular focus on art and education.
All works are for sale, and all exhibitors are eligible for the £10,000 Visitors’ Choice Award. The winner of the 2014 Threadneedle Prize finalist will be announced at an Awards Dinner on 23 September.
Threadneedle Prize Shortlist : 20 August 2014 Winner Announced: Tues 23 September 2014 Location: Mall Galleries, The Mall (near Trafalgar Square) London SW1 www.threadneedleprize.com