Northern Art Prize, Leeds: November 2011- January 2012

11Dec11

The Northern Art Prize

The Northern Art Prize 2011 exhibition takes place at Leeds Art Gallery from 25 November 2011 to 19 February 2012. The winner will be announced on 19 January 2012 and will receive £16,500, with each of the runners up receiving £1,500.

Now in its fifth year, the Northern Art Prize is an annual prize for contemporary visual artists of any age or nationality, working in any media and living in the North of England. Celebrating the quality and diversity of artists working in our region, the Northern Art Prize exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery showcases the work of the four shortlisted artists Liadin Cooke, Leo Fitzmaurice, James Hugonin and Richard Rigg.

The winning artist will be selected by this year’s judges – Caroline Douglas (Head, Arts Council Collection), Tim Marlow (Broadcaster, Art Historian and Director of Exhibitions, White Cube Gallery), Simon Starling (Artist), Simon Wallis (Director, The Hepworth Wakefield) and Sarah Brown (Curator of Exhibitions, Leeds Art Gallery) – based upon the strength of the work exhibited at Leeds Art Gallery.

Criteria

The Northern Art Prize is open to professional artists of any age, working in any medium, living in the north of England (North West, North East and Yorkshire regions as defined by Arts Council England).

Nominations come from arts professionals across the north, ranging from curators of public galleries and museums to directors of artist-led spaces and independent curators. They change every year to reflect the broad and varied practice of visual artists working across urban and rural communities.

Each nominator puts forward two artists to the selection panel drawn from the national visual arts sector. The panel, which also changes every year, select four artists who show in a group exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery. After viewing the exhibition, the selectors choose the winning artist who is awarded £16,500, with the runners-up receiving £1500 each.

Background

From the north have come some of the greatest international artists – David Hockney, Atkinson Grimshaw, Henry Moore, Damien Hirst and Barbara Hepworth.

Now in towns and cities across the north, an economic and cultural renaissance is transforming attitudes and confounding old stereotypes. Visual art has played a crucial role in that transformation and continues to be a significant part of our communities. Developments like the Baltic Centre For Contemporary Art, The Liverpool Biennial, The Yorkshire Sculpture Park and The Henry Moore Institute have consolidated artistic activity and continue to feed a growing appetite for contemporary visual arts.

The time is right to recognise the contribution artists make to our society by rewarding the best creative talent in the region. By supporting artists of this generation, the Northern Art Prize hopes to encourage future generations and contribute to the establishment of the north as a place of imagination and excellence.

Who

The prize has emerged from a partnership between Logistik, a design and communications agency, Leeds City Council and Arup, the global firm of designers and consultants.

The director of Northern Art Prize is Pippa Hale.

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Tags: arts council collection, Baltic Centre For Contemporary Art, Damien Hirst, Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds, Leeds Art Gallery, Simon Starling, Yorkshire Sculpture Park