A large-scale painting depicting an overgrown urban scene littered with bin bags and graffiti has won the Visitors’ Choice award in this year’s John Moores Painting Prize. The winning artist receives £2014 in prize money.
The painting, Vinculum (watercolour and ink on paper, mounted on canvas, 290 x 220 cm), is by London-born artist Juliette Losq. It shows a steep set of wooden steps leading down into an eerie, derelict and slightly sinister-looking yard. One visitor to the John Moores exhibition at Liverpool’s Walker Gallery described the piece as “beautiful and disorientating at the same time. I feel as if I may fall into it.”
On receiving the award, Losq said: “It means a great deal that visitors to the Walker have taken the time to vote for my painting Vinculum, and that it has struck a chord with them in some way.
“One of the most exciting things about the John Moores Painting Prize is that you are able to show your work to large numbers of people who have never seen it before – it’s an opportunity for all of the participating artists to gain a broader audience for their work in a fantastic setting.”
Losq was also shortlisted for the main £25,000 prize, which was awarded to the painter Rose Wylie in September. The 2014 John Moores judges were Tim Marlow, director of artistic programmes at the Royal Academy, and artists Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Zeng Fanzhi, Chantal Joffe and Tom Benson.
The John Moores Painting Prize 2014 exhibition continues at the Walker Gallery, Liverpool, until 30 November.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/johnmoores
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