The winner of the 17th National Open Art Prize is Glasgow-based painter Graeme Wilcox. He was presented with the £10,000 Towry Award for the Best Work in 2013 at an awards ceremony in London last night.
Wilcox, who studied BA Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art, won the prize for his painting, Two Brothers, which depicts the artist and his brother. “Having always been told we look similar, I was interested in looking at the differences and similarities between our appearances and characters,” said Wilcox.
The National Open Art competition is for two-dimensional works, including painting, printmaking, photography, sculptural reliefs and drawings. This year’s panel of judges were Brian Sewell, Barbara Rae CBE RA RE, Michael Hoppen, James Green and David Middleton.
In total, 22 prizes were distributed totalling £55,000. The £10,000 Prudential Award for the Finest Photograph in 2013, went to Michael Vogt for his work H33 Mantegna, Lindsay Robertson received the £3000 Crown Fine Art Award for Photography for his work Old Glory; and the Naylor Award for Photography of £2000 was awarded to Rosalind Bates for Blue Sky Thinking.
Among the other awards were nine Regional Prizes of £1000 each. These went to: Simon Watkins (Towry Award for Best from London); Cara Gordon (Best from Northern Ireland); Milos & Slavica Rankovic (Best for North of England); Nathan Ford (Best from the Heart of England); Iva Troj (Best from the East of England); Greig Gilbert (The University of Chichester Award for The South); Nikolas Strangelove (Best from the South West of England); Gawain Barnard (The Aneurin Morgan Thomas Award for the Best from Wales); and to Matthew Draper (The Orrin Trust Award for the Best from Scotland).
The National Open Art 2013 exhibition at the Royal College of Art features 93 works by 85 artists and continues until 7 November. It then tours to The Minerva Theatre, Chichester (14-30 November), with the winners being displayed at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester (3-15 December).
