The winners of the prestigious New Light Art Prize have been announced. Experts, enthusiasts, curators and art gallery owners joined together for the opening of the Prize Exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead on Friday (29th September) where one hundred of the shortlisted artists waited in anticipation for the results.
The biennial New Light Art Prize shines a light on Northern artists, celebrating the immense talent the region has to offer. The winners, who are from Northumberland, Cheshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire have done incredibly well to be crowned victorious as the judges had to wade through thousands of entries. The winners, and those 121 shortlisted will have their art feature in a 14-month long exhibition which takes on the length and breadth of the country in prolific galleries such as Bankside Gallery in London, The Rheged Artst Centre in Penrith, The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle, The Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate and of course, The Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead where it begins and will run until 22nd December.
The winners are:
- The New Light Valeria Sykes Award – winning £10,000 – Frances Bell, ‘Lockdown’ – Frances has lived in Wooler in Northumberland, not far from Newcastle, for the past 20 years. Born in 1983, after developing an early interest in drawing and painting, she pursued art and art history, making her way to Florence to pursue classical training at Charles H. Cecil Studios in 2001 for three years, where she taught sporadically for the further seven summers. Since completing her training, Frances has been a full-time professional portrait and landscape painter, exhibiting internationally and across the UK.
- The £2,500 New Light Patron’s Choice Award – Robert Cook, ‘Bog Bumper Emerging from the Moss’ – Robert lives in Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire. After graduating in scientific illustration at Blackpool & The Fylde College, Robert worked as an illustrator before going into teaching, sharing his knowledge of drawing, painting and passion for nature as a lecturer in scientific illustration. Since leaving education, he has worked as a wildlife artist honing his craft.
- The New Light Emerging Artists Award sponsored by Saul Hay Gallery – where the winner has been awarded mentoring, professional advice and an exhibition at Saul Hay Gallery in Manchester – George Melling, ‘During the Endless Night She Felt Herself Losing Her Mind’. George is from Preston in Lancashire. After finishing his MA at Chelsea College of Art, George taught at Kingston University before moving back to Lancashire in 2000 where he set up his own painting practice. Working as a butcher two days a week to enable George to focus on his artwork for the rest of the week, his current body of work draws on images from photographs of family and friends from childhood, representing an interrogation of the past, what we inherit, what we cherish and what we discard.
- The New Light Printmakers’ Prize sponsored by Zillah Bell Gallery – the winner will be offered a solo or group exhibition at the Zillah Bell gallery in North Yorkshire, host to some of the UK’s very best printmakers’ shows – Neil Bousfield, ‘Bewick’s Place’ – multiple 16 block reduction relief engraving and woodcut (16cm x 32cm). Neil was born in Middlesborough and grew up in the coastal village of Marske-by-the-Sea and Redcar in North Yorkshire. He studied at Cleveland College of Art & Design in Middlesborough and Teesside University, Middlesborough. He now lives on the North Norfolk coast. He works within the discipline of relief printmaking and contemporary wood engraving. ‘Bewick’s Place’ comprises 16 small square blocks to represent a grid or a plotting and mapping method, which have been engraved, cut and printed using the reduction method. Each block has been engraved in sections and printed as one.
- New Light Purchase Prize – The winner will be included in the New Light Collection – Christine Stables – ‘The Art of Balance’. Christine lives in Stockport in Cheshire. After working as a textile artist for many years, Christine became an abstract painter in 2019 so that she could mix and use her own colours to suit her work. She uses acrylic paint, glazes and inks, and in her winning piece ‘The Art of Balance’ she uses organic shapes, created with loose white lines, showing off the colour orange by using contrasts in textures, translucency, opacity and complimentary colour.
The New Light Prize Exhibition, established in 2011, has become one of the UK’s largest and most talked about open touring exhibitions and offers some of the region’s best awards and opportunities for aspiring and established artists.
The judging process began in May and included some of the UK’s best art experts including Olivia Heron, Curator of The Whitworth Gallery, Matthew Hall, Director of Panter and Hall, London, Nan Perell, New York Collector specialising in contemporary British paintings, Mark Demsteader, renowned figurative artist and Rebekah Tadd, Development Director of New Light Art.
Rebekah Tadd, Development Director at New Light says: “The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead is a wonderful launch venue for the New Light Prize Exhibition 2023/24. The standard and quality of artwork submitted was incredibly high. Once again the shortlist has proved the tremendous wealth of talent that exists in the North of England. The judges had a very difficult time making a decision and commented on the high standard of all the shortlisted artwork in the exhibition. Congratulations to such worthy winners. The exhibition is now open to the public at The Williamson before commencing the next leg of the tour in London at Bankside Gallery in February.
“We are excited to open for entries for our first ever Sculpture Prize in December 2023, sponsored by the Biscuit Foundation and hosted by the Biscuit Factory. For the first time, plinth, floor and suspended work will join the wall hung Prize Exhibition, adding a new experience for the visitor.”
Frances Bell, winner of the New Light Valeria Sykes Prize says: “I feel so optimistic for the future of northern art in being part of this show. Such an ambitious exhibition, over so many wonderful venues, and months in which to tour the country, with such a rich crop of work to show alongside. There is great depth in the artistic community in the north and this show demonstrates so much of that. To have won the Valeria Sykes Award is beyond my wildest expectations, I’m really delighted. The painting was made at the tail end of the second lockdown, which so affected us all. My sitter is another Northumbrian and a great friend of mine. The atmosphere of that time comes through for me when I think about the painting, almost like a time capsule from the past.
“It feels balancing that a painting which stems from being compelled by circumstances to remain in one locality through a hard moment in our recent history, should be shown in an exhibition celebrating that same area, and those who live and create art there.”
Artists who were born, live or have studied in one of the historic counties of the North of England – Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Yorkshire and – for the first time – Cheshire, were invited to submit their work online via www.newlight-art.org. Entry into the competition was £20 for the first two pieces of artwork and £10 for any subsequent entries.
Past New Light shortlisted artists who have had huge success with exhibitions across the UK and further afield include Norman Ackroyd CBE RA, Anne Desmet RA, Maxwell Doig, Mark Demsteader, Christopher Cook, Mandy Payne, James Naughton and Jo Taylor.
Matthew Hall, Direct of Panter & Hall in London, and one of the Judges of the New Light Art Prize says: “I was very impressed by the increasingly high standard of work year on year. The New Light Prize has become one of the nation’s leading figurative painting forums recognising the importance of technical capability in artistic practice. It was the strongest year yet for the New Light Prize and a very difficult choice to make amongst a talented field. As always it was a professionally organised event by a very friendly team, it is a sheer pleasure to take part.”
Mark Demsteader, renowned Figurative Artist and another one of the Judges of the New Light Art Prize added: “It was a very difficult decision to choose one artwork from the whole show as they all stand alone as individual pieces. It was good to see such high quality work coming from Northern artists.”
Established in 2010, New Light is a charity that celebrates and promotes both well-known and emerging artists by offering some of the region’s best awards and opportunities. As well as the New Light Prize, it runs New Light Art for All, an education programme which includes talks, workshops and school projects. In 2021 it launched the New Light Collection which aims to make the best in Northern visual arts available to more people, by loaning pieces free of charge to public bodies and charities.
The common thread through everything New Light does is a deep belief that the visual arts matter and the north of England deserves to be celebrated. New Light is run by a dedicated group of people who are passionate about the visual arts in the north of England and relies entirely on donations and sponsorship.
For more information visit www.newlight-art.org.uk
