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John Moores Painting Prize 2014 - The Open College of the Arts

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John Moores Painting Prize 2014

Orange Sash_oil on board_30x40cm
If you are a contemporary painter the prize to go for in the UK is the John Moores. Such artists as David Hockney, Peter Doig and Lisa Milroy have been past prize winners. The prize is held every 2 years at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool as part of the Liverpool Biennale. This year there were 2,500 entrants with 50 artists selected. What attracted me to apply this year was the panel of judges and the fact that they select the work, originally from slide submission and then from viewing the original works at the gallery, from a long- list of artists. The panel this year was Zeng Fanzhi, Chantal Joffe, Tim Marlow, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Tom Benson. They are predominantly figurative artists and I love the work particularly of Chantal Joffe.
I submitted a small oil on board called Orange Sash. I had been thinking of my father’s childhood in Belfast and his stories about the orange men’s marches through the city. Even though he was brought up in protestant Belfast he hated this continual playing to the past through the celebrations of “Billy of the Boyne”. I am aware that if circumstances had been different I would have been born in Belfast and might well have been part of the ongoing political and social “troubles” that are part of its history and culture. For my paintings I use images found on the website and the one I chose had resonances with me. An interesting dialogue developed between myself and the photographer of the original image mostly around issues of copyright. Luckily he really liked my painting and he granted permission to use it. This permission had to be obtained for its reproduction for the catalogue and poster. I think this is an interesting issue as contemporary artists frequently use photographic sources for their work and a painting is very different from a photograph.
It was a great feeling to be selected for the final exhibition. I think what I value most as an artist is recognition from respected artists and critics that my work communicates to a wider audience other than myself. My painting has also been selected along with four other of the exhibiting painters to contribute to the poster campaign to promote the exhibition, which is a lovely surprise.
If you are interested in contemporary painting it is a great show to see what is happening now. The organisers claim that the show represents the “best contemporary painting across the UK”. The exhibition is open 5 July to 30 November at The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Join the debate see what you think about the selected works. The prize-winner will be announced on 19 September.


Posted by author: Barbara Howey

4 thoughts on “John Moores Painting Prize 2014

  • Congratulations. I got short-listed a couple of years ago and was told by a friend (who has been selected twice), ‘put it on your CV!’. Selection really counts. It’s an incredible achievement and the show is always worth seeing.
    As for the painting, I like the looseness of the brushwork and the melancholy subject. I’m glad you managed to get the photographer on board.
    With any luck I’ll get to see this over the summer. Once again, well done.

  • Congratulations, indeed! I really love the minimal palette and the way your paint looks still fluid. Thank you for introducing me to Chantal Joffe’s work.

  • Congratulations Barbara, I particularly liked the sensitive reference to the Orange men and Irish histories.

  • I visited this yesterday and enjoyed seeing this image in the flesh. It’s a very figurative show, with a lot of paintings drawing on photography as source material. Well worth a day out to see.

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