The John Moores exhibition of contemporary painting is the biggest contemporary painting competition in Britain, this year it’s being judged by some huge names in modern art with a massive prize at stake, proving that painting is still as popular as ever - so get entering! The judges are... This year’s judges include the controversial Young British Artist (YBA) Tracey Emin who’s best known for works such as My Bed’ (1998/99) and the in Liverpool for the minimalist public sculpture of a bird called ‘Roman Standard’ which was unveiled in the grounds of the Anglican Cathedral in February - generating much debate in Liverpool! Another leading figure in British art, Sir Peter Blake will also judge the competition, known for his Pop Art style of painting incorporating items of modern culture into his painting and most famously the colourful cover for Beatle’s album ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band’. Two other judges include established artists and former competition prize winner Jason Brooks and curator of fine art at the Walker Art Gallery Ann Bukantas, with a fifth still to be announced. Big prizes! | "...painting is still one of the liveliest and most creative options open to today’s artists." | | Julian Treuherz |
The competition is on an open submission basis, and anyone can enter for the prestigious title as well as the massive first prize of £25,000! There are four additional prizes of £2,500 each up for grabs as well which would buy a few paintbrushes for the lucky runners up. The competition opened on the 1 November and artists have until the 17th February 2006 to get their registration forms in, which can be obtained through their website at the bottom of this page. The full rules are available on the website but entries must be new or recent paintings, they have to be within a set size, must be designed to hang on walls and be created by someone who lives or is based in the United Kingdom. The first round of judging will be by slides, so making sure you’ve got some good slides will be essential if you want to get through to the next round, when a shortlist of up to 500 works will be called in for viewing - from which the finalists will be selected. There will also be an additional award of £1000 for the ‘Visitor’s Choice’ prize which proved successful in 2004, as well as causing plenty of debate! Julian Treuherz, keeper of art galleries, says: ‘Despite predictions that painting is no longer the medium of choice for today’s cutting edge artists, the John Moores prize exhibition, generously supported by the Moores family, continues to demonstrate that painting is still one of the liveliest and most creative options open to today’s artists.’
Good luck to all the painters in Merseyside - get entering! Details The deadline for artists to register is 17 February 2006 - registration forms can be obtained through the website below or from the Walker Art Gallery. Full conditions are in the entry pack Slides must be sent in by 1 March 2006. Winners will be announced at the opening of the exhibition which runs from 16 September to 26 November 2006.
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