A London-based artist who creates large-scale sculptural forms composed of steel, chicken wire and paper pulp has won the 2019-20 Mark Tanner Sculpture Award (MTSA).
Olivia Bax was selected from a shortlist of eight artists by a panel comprising Simon Wallis OBE, director, The Hepworth Wakefield; Rebecca Scott, artist and Mark Tanner Trust; Emma Kelly, Standpoint Gallery; and Anna Reading, winner of the 2018-19 award.
The award was presented by Standpoint director Michael Taylor at the opening of Reading’s exhibition, ‘The Pothole’, at the artist-run gallery and studios in London.
Bax’s prize is £8,000 towards the production of new work over the coming year and a solo exhibition at Standpoint in 2020.
Her work will also tour as part of the new MTSA National Touring Programme which currently includes the venues Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre (Bury, Greater Manchester), Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens (Cornwall) and Cross Lane Projects (Kendal, Cumbria).
Bax, who is interested in ‘the process and physicality of construction’, is a graduate from Byam Shaw School of Art, London (BA Fine Art, 2007-2010) and Slade School of Fine Art, London (MFA Sculpture, 2014-2016).
Recent solo exhibitions include: ‘Roost’, Lily Brooke Gallery, London (2018); ‘at large’, VO Curations, 93 Baker Street, London (2018) and ‘Zest’, Fold Gallery, London (2016/17).
The other shortlisted artists for the 2019-20 award were: Josephine Baker, Jolanta Basova, Marie Aimée Fattouche, Byzantia Harlow, Harley Kuyck-Cohen, Jocelyn McGregor and Lindsey Mendick. They were selected from 240 applicants.
Aimed at emerging UK artists working in sculpture, MTSA seeks to ‘reward outstanding and innovative practice, with a particular interest in work that demonstrates a commitment to process, or sensitivity to material’.
Established in 2001, the award is named after the British sculptor Mark Tanner who died in 1998 after a long illness. Tanner trained at St Martin’s College of Art and had been associated with Standpoint since its inception.
Images:
1. Olivia Bax, Monkey Cups, 2018, Steel, chicken wire, newspaper, glue, paint, plaster, 240 x 212 x 146cm, Three Works, Scarborough. Photo: Chris Shaw
2. Olivia Bax, Hot Spot, 2018, Steel, chicken wire, newspaper, glue, plaint, plaster, handles, hooks, 150 x 201 x 22 cm
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