Every January, during the London Art Fair, The Catlin Guide again introduces the 40 most promising new graduate artists in the UK. Printed annually, each edition exhibits the artists’ latest work and details future exhibitions, projects and aspirations for the coming year. Alongside work by many of the featured artists selected for their work shown in the most recent series of BA, MA, MFA and PG Dip final exhibitions where they demonstrate ambition, skill and integrity. The Catlin Guide is distributed throughout the art industry. For the featured artists it proves to be a vital springboard, with many going on to exhibit at high profile shows.
Artists featured in the inaugural edition of The Catlin Guide, published in 2010, were recommended by a wide survey of BA and MA course leaders, independent curators, gallerists and collectors, moving it towards its current reputation as an accurate and exciting overview of new British art.
The widely anticipated fifth edition of The Catlin Guide will showcase the latest crop of Britain’s most talented new artists. Following an extensive tour of UK art schools, author Justin Hammond conducts a series of artist interviews and consults with leading gallerists, curators, course tutors and collectors before revealing the coveted shortlist. The Catlin Guide is now established as an indispensable tool for followers of contemporary art and a collectable item in its own right. The book will be unveiled alongside work by a selection of featured artists at the London Art Fair 2014, with a limited number of free copies given away to visitors to The Catlin Guide stand (P25).
The 40 profiles will focus on new graduate and postgraduate artists from the most recent round of BA, MA and PG Dip final shows. This year’s exciting line-up includes painters Charlie Billingham (Royal Academy Schools) and Neil Raitt (Royal College of Art), multi-media artists Ophelia Finke (Central Saint Martins) and Saejin Choi (Glasgow School of Art), photographer Chloe Rosser (Falmouth University), sculptor Sungfeel Yun (Slade School of Fine Art) and the enigmatic Mr. & Mrs. Philip Cath (Goldsmiths). As in previous years, The Catlin Guide highlights prevailing trends, offering a glimpse into the future of contemporary art.
Hammond is adamant that the book continues to be both a desirable object and valuable record of the UK’s artistic landscape, a point emphasised by another of the selected artists, Virgile Ittah:
“I remember discussing The Catlin Guide with fellow sculpture students at the Royal College of Art and talking about how the book is presented as a precious object, rather than something ephemeral. It’s great to be chosen and considered as one of the artists representing a new generation.” Indeed, many of the artists selected for previous editions of The Catlin Guide are quick to recognise the book as a vital springboard for furthering their careers. Photographer Juno Calypso (The Catlin Guide 2013) comments: “Being in the Catlin Guide gave my work huge exposure and provided opportunities that I had thought would take years to attain.”
The Catlin Guide 2014 | New Artists in the UK will be available on stand P25 in the Art Projects section of the London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, until 19th January. Following the launch, it will be available to buy for £12.99 from Amazon, Culture Label and selected book sellers.