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11/12/2009

BP Portrait Award 2009

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh

From intimate and personal images of friends and family to revealing portraits of celebrity sitters, this exhibition presents a variety of styles and approaches that illustrate the vitality of contemporary portrait painting. The BP Portrait Award is the most prestigious portrait competition in the world, promoting the very best in contemporary portrait painting. From a record entry of over 1,900 artists, this year's exhibition will present 56 selected portraits, including all the shortlisted entries, alongside the work of the BP Travel Award 2008 winner Emmanouil Bitsakis. From intimate and personal images of friends and family to revealing portraits of celebrity sitters, the exhibition presents a variety of styles and approaches that together illustrate the vitality of contemporary portrait painting.

BP Portrait Award 2009 judges

The prize winners for the BP Portrait Award 2009 were announced at the Awards Ceremony on 16 June 2009. This year the competition was judged by:
Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London (Chair)
James Holloway, Director, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
Gillian Wearing, artist and photographer
Charlotte Mullins, art historian and critic
Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP

First Prize was awarded to Peter Monkman for Changeling 2, Second Prize to Michael Gaskell for Tom, and Annalisa Avancini won Third Prize for Manuel.

Prize winners

Peter Monkman (b.1964) was shortlisted for the first time this year, having been included in the BP Award exhibition in 1999, 2001 and 2003. His shortlisted portrait, Changeling 2, forms part of a series of works focusing on his daughter, Anna, and explores the concept of the changeling. ‘I challenge the fixed notion of an idealised image of childhood and substitute it for a more unsettling, complex, representation that exists in its own right as a painting.'

Michael Gaskell was awarded Second Prize for Tom, a portrait of his son who was 17 at the time of the sitting. Gaskell continued working on the portrait over the next two years, noting that his son ‘was at the period in adolescence between boy and manhood and fleetingly suspended between both.'

Third Prize went to Annalisa Avancini (b.1973) for Manuel. This is the third time Avancini has painted Manuel and says, ‘His eclectic personality is what attracts me. His story shines through his face. Despite his young age his life is rich in experience.'

BP Young Artist Award

The BP Young Artist Award winner for 2009 is Mark Jameson for Benfica Blue.

Mark Jameson, 29, painted his award-winning portrait of his sister, Lyndsey, in less than a month. The sittings took place at his parent's house in County Durham.

Jameson says that ‘it was my intention to capture aspects of the subject's persona, but also to convey this in a modern and relevant way. That said, the acrid colours and an informal composition contribute to an accessible and honest account. This piece is not to my mind entirely finished. I hope that perhaps its technical shortcomings are in keeping with the character of the piece.'

BP Travel Award

The BP Travel Award is an annual award of £5,000 to allow artists to experience working in a different environment on a project related to portraiture. The BP Travel Award winner for 2009 is Isobel Peachey. Peachey submitted a proposal to travel to Belgium and Switzerland to sketch and paint portraits of those taking part in historical re-enactments. Last year the award was won by Emmanouil Bitsakis, who visited the Uigur people in Xinjang, north-west China. A selection of Bitsakis's portraits from this journey will be exhibited in this year's exhibition.

Image: Georgie - by Mary Jane Ansell © Mary Jane Ansell

For further information and images, please call Patricia Convery, Head of Press and Marketing on 0131 624 6247/ 325/ 332/ 314 pressoffice@nationalgalleries.org

Opneing 12th December 2009

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
75 Belford Road, EH4 3DR, Edinburgh
Opening Hours
Open daily, 10am-5pm.
Last entry to the show is 30mins before closing time.
Admission free

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