Judge – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Serco Prize for Illustration 2014: Call for Entries

Anne Wilson for London Transport Museum Serco prize
Illustration by 2011 winner Anne Wilson.

I am really excited to announce that I will be one of the judges for the 2014 Serco Prize for Illustration. You’ve only got a few weeks left to submit your work, but I urge you to give it a go – there’s always a very high standard to choose from and the best are shown in an exhibition at the London Transport Museum. Here’s our reviews of the prize artworks from 2010 and 2011, and below is all the official information you need to know: I look forward to seeing your entries!

London Transport Museum, in partnership with the Association of Illustrators (AOI), is delighted to announce that submissions are now welcome for the Serco Prize for Illustration 2014. This year the theme is London Stories.

London Transport Museum Serco prize2012
Illustrations by 2012 prize winners: Finn Clark, Christopher King and Guy Roberts.

‘Across the ages, London has produced and inspired countless stories. Fictitious or real characters and events in this amazing city have always held fascination, from the anecdotal urban myth to grand tales of historic legend. The aim of the competition is to attract artwork for display that is colourful, inspiring and celebrates a vibrant, multi-layered London.

Visually capture a well-known or lesser known narrative in a single image; all stories, current or historical, real or fictional, which feature this amazing city are welcome – your imagination is the limit. Stories could be those seen in a film or play, heard in poetry or music, read in literature or an urban myth. Impress the jury with your illustrated interpretation of a London story and be in with a chance of having your work displayed at the famous London Transport Museum and winning the top prize.’

London Transport Museum Serco_Anne-Wilson_2011
The winning image from Anne Wilson in 2011.

Prizes will be awarded in three levels:
First prize: £2000 and display of image on a LTM poster
Second prize: £1000
Third prize: £750

There is also the possibility that your shortlisted image will be featured on merchandise sold in the museum shop.

The competition is open to illustrators and students of illustration throughout the world. The top 50 entries selected by a panel of judges will be displayed in an exhibition at London Transport Museum that will open Friday 14 February and run until Sunday 6 April. The winners will be announced at a private award ceremony on the evening of Thursday 13 February. Make sure you read the terms and conditions on the website before you enter.

The deadline for entries is Sunday 3 November 2013.

Other judges include renowned illustrator Brian Grimwood, Libby Hamilton from Templar Publishing, Neil McFarland from UsTwo and Michael Walton from the London Transport Museum.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday October 23rd, 2013 10:26 am

Categories ,2014, ,Amelia Gregory, ,Anne Wilson, ,AOI, ,Association of Illustrators Award, ,Brian Grimwood, ,Call for Entries, ,Christopher King, ,Finn Clark, ,Guy Roberts, ,Judge, ,Libby Hamilton, ,London Transport Museum, ,Neil McFarland, ,Serco Prize for Illustration, ,Templar Publishing

Amelia’s Magazine | Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011: Exhibition Review

Jerwood Drawing Prize review 2011-Homage to Anonymous by Gary Lawrence
Homage to Anonymous by Gary Lawrence (detail).

This year the Jerwood Drawing Prize grows more influential than ever. During his speech at the opening of the exhibition last night art historian Tim Marlow told us that there were a record number of entrants this year: 1, ampoule 779 artists submitted 3, ambulance 354 entries in total. In describing the continuing importance of drawing judge Tim Marlow drew our attention to the new Degas exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts which opens this weekend. It concentrates on Degas‘ relationship with the new disciplines of photography and film as he explored ways of recording movement in ballet 150 years ago. Despite the prevalence of these other mediums today they can never entirely replace the visual discipline of drawing.

Without further ado here’s the work of the winners, order and my favourites from a selection of everything else.

Jerwood Drawing Prize review 2011-Homage to Anonymous by Gary Lawrence
I was drawn to Homage to Anonymous by Gary Lawrence the minute I stepped foot in the gallery. This giant biro drawing is a complex, surreal, fantastic piece of artwork. Gary accepted this years Jerwood Prize turned out in scruffy tracksuit bottoms with a greying beard and described his drawing as ‘a tribute to all the anonymous artists through history who made work but are unrecognised.’ The Essex based artist took a year to create his work of art, which was based on a view of Pothea on the Greek island of Kalymnos, which he visited on holiday. Over time the drawing gradually transmogrified into something far more complex, taking on historical references to town views by other artists across time.

The Cut (detail) by Jessie Brennan Jerwood Drawing Prize review 2011-The Cut (detail) by Jessie Brennan
The Cut (details) by Jessie Brennan.

Jessie Brennan‘s five metre long The Cut was inspired by oral histories of the Lea River Navigation Canal, and features a delicate array of found objects piled up in curious arrangements. Scale becomes distorted when you realise the presence of little people at the foot of the drawing.

Sketch by Nicki Rolls
Nicki Rolls took second prize in the Student Awards for her Sketch, a black and white film that screens against a sketchbook.

Lake by Kristian Fletcher
A very well deserved first prize went to Kristian Fletcher of the University of West England, who boasts ten years experience in the construction industry. His dimly lit Lake consists of an eery industrial space where hard edged architecture looms over an ominous section of chainlink fence.

Jerwood Drawing Prize review 2011-Pattern of Faerie Tales by Iain Andrews
Surrealism was a common theme amongst short listed entries. I particularly liked Pattern of Faerie Tales by Iain Andrews, which was stacked up loosely on a table. Giant fish lie on chicken feet tables and maidens sit beneath crepuscular bugs, in scenes inspired by the words of Tolkien.

Interior by Adam Bainbridge
Adam Bainbridge‘s Interior combines memories with absurd imaginings: tracking the formation of clay ornaments in soft focus.

Gefallener by Johanna Love.

Untitled 2 by Janine Rook.

The abstract patterns of dirt were big news: Johanna Love and Janine Rook traced the minutest amounts of fluff in delicate detail.

Untitled by robert Battams
Abstract paper layers featured in several artworks. Robert Battams used graph paper to stack patterns inspired by the fragmentations of digital recording.

Kasia Depta-Garapich‘s Organic Structure, Animation Still merges drawing, sculpture and animation in a curious fluttering object of semi-transparent layers.

Untitled by Leahy Clark
Simon Leahy-Clark stacked newspaper in random grid formations created around the missing content.

Polly Yates (folds)
Polly Yates considers herself a weaver of paper: circular cutouts and felt tips create the push and pull of space in Untitled (Folds).

Jerwood Drawing Prize review 2011-Lottie Jackson-Eeles
Explosions of colour and pattern will always turn my eye. I loved Imagery Imaginary Volume 1 by Lottie Jackson-Eeles, a concertina-ed sketchbook tracing her journeys through London in glorious colourful detail. Peeks between the pages reveal details such as wind mills and towerblocks. Do take a look at her website: there is some fabulous work on there.

Shepherd's Fry Up by Steven Lowery
Steven Lowery‘s artwork is a protest agains the mindlessness of celebrity infested tabloids and reality TV, set against a love of improvisational music – the tightly crafted words and images curling in and out of each other in Shepherd’s Fry Up.

Mouth Full of Triangles by Sally Taylor
Mouth Full of Triangles 4 by Sally Taylor is a clever and curiously amusing piece.

Jerwood Drawing Prize review 2011-Ground Truth and Deep Grief by Louisa Fairclough
Ground Truth and Deep Grief by Louisa Fairclough are simple watercolour paintings of tents, formed after ritual cycle rides taken along the Severn river at full moon. She sleeps on the ground, at the edge of the river: feeling the pulse of the tides.

Drawing Room by Fran Richardson is a large charcoal artwork, an evocative space of flouncy curtains that invites the viewer inside.

Girl Bag by Evju_Kristian
Photorealism in Girl Bag by Kristian Evju cleverly catches the sense of limbo within a narrative.

25a GF067 by Reginald S. Aloysius
Reginald Aloysius used pencil and enamel paint to create an eery netherworld, where ancient temples and airplane routes collide.

Fashion meets art. Inspired by memories and moths, Tree (Catocala) by Ash Summers perhaps unwittingly echoes the ikat patterns of the new season’s fabrics.

This year there was a greater prevalence of barely there diminutive abstracts, surely a reflection of influential judge Rachel Whiteread‘s tastes.

The Jerwood Drawing Prize is a must for all practicing artists, whatever your discipline. It runs until 30th October at the Jerwood Space and then heads out to BayArt in Cardiff and Burton Museum & Art Gallery in Devon. Full listing information here.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday September 14th, 2011 5:51 pm

Categories ,2011, ,Adam Bainbridge, ,Animation Still, ,Ash Summers, ,BayArt, ,Burton Museum & Art Gallery, ,cardiff, ,Charcoal, ,Deep Grief, ,Degas, ,Devon, ,drawing, ,Drawing Room, ,Essex, ,Fran Richardson, ,Full Moon, ,Gary Lawrence, ,Girl Bag, ,Ground Truth, ,Homage to Anonymous, ,Iain Andrews, ,Imagery Imaginary Volume 1, ,Interior, ,Jerwood Drawing Prize, ,jerwood space, ,Jessie Brennan, ,Judge, ,Kalymnos, ,Kasia Depta-Garapich, ,Kristian Evju, ,Kristian Fletcher, ,Lake, ,Lea River Navigation Canal, ,Lottie Jackson-Eeles, ,Louisa Fairclough, ,Mouth Full of Triangles 4, ,Nicki Rolls, ,Organic Structure, ,Papercutting, ,Pattern of Faerie Tales, ,pencil, ,Photorealism, ,Polly Yates, ,Pothea, ,Rachel Whiteread, ,Reginald Aloysius, ,review, ,Royal academy of arts, ,Sally Taylor, ,Severn, ,Shepherd’s Fry Up, ,Simon Leahy-Clark, ,Sketch, ,Steven Lowery, ,Student Awards, ,surrealism, ,The Cut, ,Tim Marlow, ,Tolkien, ,Tree (Catocala), ,University of West England, ,Untitled (Folds)