Young Masters Art Prize: shortlist announced

Shortlist announced for Young Masters Art Prize and Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize

The shortlist for the Young Masters Art Prize is announced. Eighteen artists from across the globe will compete for this coveted international prize, which celebrates contemporary artists who pay homage to the skill and traditions of the past. An exhibition of their work will be held at Gallery 8 in the heart of London’s St James’s from 19 to 24 June. The winner will be announced on 21 June.

The shortlist includes Ghanaian-British multi-media artist Amartey Golding whose film Chainmail throws light over cultural behaviours towards race, gender and sexuality, while channelling the darkness of El Greco and Goya; Dutch fine art photographer Isabelle van Zeijl who blends the techniques and idioms of the Old Masters with present-day aesthetics to create striking self-portraits; British print-maker John Phillips whose eerie still lifes are created from over 1,000 separate photographs; and American painter Lucy Beecher Nelson who reinvents 15th century Italian marriage portraits. 

Ten artists have also been shortlisted for the Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize, a strand of the Young Masters Art Prize that was launched in 2014 to give a separate platform for ceramics and highlight the creative and innovative potential of this artistic medium. The shortlist includes British artist Katie Spragg who creates miniature worlds modelled in porcelain, and Danish artist Malene Hartmann Rasmussen, whose figurative and narrative pieces have been influenced by the 15^th century potter Bernard Palissy.

The Young Masters Art Prize was established in 2009 by gallerist Cynthia Corbett. 2017 marks the fourth edition of the prize and is being judged by art historian Godfrey Barker (Chair) with Melanie Gerlis, Art Market Columnist at the Financial Times and Editor-at-large at The Art Newspaper; Daisy McMullan, Curator;  Hannah Rothschild, writer, filmmaker and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery, London; Charles Saumarez Smith, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts and Jean Wainwright, Art Historian, Critic and Professor of Contemporary Art and Photography at the University for the Creative Arts.  On 21 June they will award three prizes: an overall prize of £2,000 and two Highly Commended Prizes of £500 each courtesy of the Artists’ Collecting Society (ACS). A new ‘Be Smart About Art’ award worth £500 will be inaugurated with this edition of the prize.

The judging panel for the Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize comprises Janice Blackburn, former Curator of Arts and Crafts at Sotheby’s; collector Preston Fitzgerald; collector and philanthropist, Maylis Grand and the Crafts Council’s Daniella Wells. A main Ceramics Prize of £1,500 and a Highly Commended Prize of £500 will be awarded.

For the first time in 2017, a new strand of the Young Masters Art Prize will be launched to profile and reward the work of an emerging female artist.  The winner of the Young Masters Emerging Woman Art Prize will be selected from all the Young Masters Art Prize and Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize entries.  The judging panel for the Young Masters Emerging Woman Art Prize comprises: Beth Colocci, Chairman of the Trustees of UK Friends of the National Museum of Women in the Arts; Sylvie Gormezano, Chair of the Association of Women Art Dealers; award-winning designer and art collector Ronnette Riley, FAIA and Nadja Swarovski, Member of the Executive Board, Head of Corporate Branding and Communications and Chairperson of the Swarovski Foundation. They will present the winner with an award of £1,000 and a runner-up with a Highly Commended Prize of £250, which have been made possible thanks to Dr Chris Blatchley. 

The Young Masters Art Prize shortlist:

Tamara Al-Mashouk        Liron Kroll               Lars Reiffers                            

Lucy Beecher Nelson      Liane Lang             Asya Reznikov

Sasha Bowles                 Azita Moradkhani   Sheila Rock     

Carole Freeman             Yuehan Pan            Antoine Schneck         

Amartey Golding              John Phillips          Stephen Snoddy         

Laura Hospes                  David Piddock       Isabelle van Zeijl

The Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize shortlist:

Grant Aston                              Lucille Lewin

Andrew Casto                           Lauren Nauman

Tessa Eastman                         Irina Razumovskaya

Antonie Eikemans                     Katie Spragg

Malene Hartmann Rasmussen  Amber Zuber   

For 2017, the Young Masters Art Prize is delighted to welcome multi-media artist Gordon Cheung as its guest artist.  His work will be part of the Young Masters Art Prize exhibition.

The Young Masters Art Prize and Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize shortlist exhibition will be held at Gallery 8 in the heart of London’s St James’s from 19 to 24 June 2017.  A selection of shortlisted artists will be shown in an exhibition at the Royal Overseas League from 28 June to 8 September 2017 and at the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery from 2 to 14 October 2017 during Frieze week.