Waverton Art Prize 2024
The Waverton Art Prize 2024
The Waverton Art Prize is a platform for emerging talent, offering the winning artist the opportunity to invest time and resources into developing their vocation.
The prize was founded in 2022 by Waverton, Ranald Macdonald, Founder and Owner of Boisdale Restaurants, and Mark Connolly, Founder and Director of Paint Talk, and is an open submission with a single prize of £10,000.
The inaugural prize winner was Rae Hicks, selected by Stuart Pearson Wright in 2022.
The prize is open to artists under the age of 40 and based in the UK. The prize is open to all 2D media, Drawing, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Collage, Textiles, Collage, Digital Print. Artists at any stage of their career can apply. Submitted works must not exceed 50x40cm, inclusive of frame. (The shortlisted works must be ready to hang on delivery).
The shortlisted submissions will be exhibited in The Gallery Room at Boisdale of Canary Wharf, London. The longlisted submissions will be hosted on Boisdale's website.
Key Dates
Open for submissions 20 November 2023
Submissions close 31 January 2024Selection of Short List selected February 2024
Exhibition opens March 2024
The Judges
Mark Connolly
Mark Connolly, b.1991, is an artist, founder and director of Paint Talk and cofounder of The Waverton Art Prize. Connolly completed his Undergraduate Degree in Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art in 2014, an Erasmus Exchange at Sint Lucas Beeldende Kunst Ghent, 2013, and undertook the Postgraduate Drawing Year at The Royal Drawing School in 2017.
He has since exhibited internationally with Simchowitz, Los Angeles, 2023, James Freeman, London, 2023, Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg, 2022, Galerie Droste, Berlin, 2022, Everyday Gallery, Antwerp, 2021 and has upcoming solo exhibitions in America and Japan in 2024. Paint Talks next project will open in February 2024 at A Horse With No Name Gallery, Ostende.
Olivia Sterling
In her paintings, Sterling presents the viewer with scenes of daily life that subtly critique attitudes towards race, class, gender and social status. While her typically closely cropped and vividly coloured canvases – teeming with arms, legs and half-eaten food – may seem playful at first sight, they do in fact tackle subjects that are anything but. In this way, Sterling’s artworks can be seen as contemporary genre paintings, designed to make us reflect upon the world around us. Through her work’s outwardly jovial exterior, Sterling lulls us into a false sense of security and forces us to consider our own misconceptions and prejudices.
Lowri Harries
Lowri Harries is Assistant Curator of Public Art for Canary Wharf Group. Prior to joining the company in 2021, she studied at the University of Bristol, earning a BA in History of Art, and at the University of Sussex, where she achieved an MA in Art History and Museum Curating. During her time at Canary Wharf, Lowri has been involved in several exhibitions including Titans by Wallace Chan, Ebb and Flow by Louis Thompson, Cornucopia by Patricia Volk, Scale Matters by Angela Glajcar, as well as Canary Wharf’s annual light festival, Winter Lights. Lowri also manages Canary Wharf’s permanent collection of over 100 artworks – London’s largest collection of outdoor, free-to-visit public art.
Sebastian Dovey
Seb is an entrepreneur and investor with over 25 years of strategic and commercial experience with top-tier and global wealth management businesses.
He was appointed to the Waverton Board in 2021 as a non-executive director (NED). Seb is an appreciator of contemporary art and design. He is a supporter of several emerging artists and keen collector of Japanese netsuke.
Submissions
Submissions should include :
- An image of the submitted work
- A brief artist statement (max. 300 words)
- A brief artist biography (max. 300 words)
- Your CV
There is a £12 fee per submission, a submission is one artwork. The submission fee must be paid before the submission is made. The JPEG, brief statement, brief biography, and CV should be included as attachments, Google Drive and We Transfer submissions will not be considered.
For any submission enquiries, please email painttalk@outlook.com . Enquiries will be responded to on Mondays.
FAQs
Can I make multiple submissions?
Yes, you can make multiple submissions, each submission is £12, payment must be made before the submitted materials are forwarded.
Can I submit sculpture / 3D work?
The prize is currently only open to 2D media.
I am from the UK but living abroad, am I still eligible to apply?
Artists need to be living and working in the UK to apply.
My work is slightly over the size limit, will you consider slightly larger works?
The works must not exceed 50x40cm, inclusive of frame.
I live outside of London, will the prize organisers be able arrange shipping of my selected work?
Shortlisted artists are responsible for the delivery and return of their artworks from the venue.
Will the longlisted / shortlisted works be available for sale?
The longlisted and shortlisted works works must be available for sale. The shortlisted works will be available for sale at the exhibition. We are happy to have the longlisted works available for sale online, but this is not essential, if the artist is happy for the work to be listed for sale, we can accommodate this.
I am still studying my undergraduate degree, am I eligible to apply?
Yes, students are welcome to submit work for consideration.
2022 Winner: Rae Hicks
Rae Hicks painting Terrace won the inaugural Waverton Art Prize in 2022. Rae beat nearly 700 submissions in the open call art competition shortlisted by the international curator Paint Talk and judged by portrait artist and winner of the BP Portrait award, Stuart Pearson Wright.
"Winning the prize meant I could take a momentary break from the usual pressures and for the first time in years, concentrate solely on my practice and studio environment. It enabled a suite of works to be realised in a spirit of increased experimentation which in turn have given semblance to what I am making now."
