The Threadneedle Prize, which aims to showcase the very best in new figurative and representational art, is pleased to announce the 2014 shortlist.

Selected from over 3,600 entries, the six finalists in line for the £20,000 Prize will all exhibit at London’s Mall Galleries this autumn. Inspired by landscape or the human figure, their work will be exhibited alongside 58 other entries selected for the 2014 edition of the Prize. The finalist will also receive a solo exhibition for a wider body of work at Mall Galleries in 2015.

Panel member Kevin Francis Gray said: “This year’s shortlist highlights the talent of practicing artists who both find ongoing inspiration in the human form and the abstraction of the human form, as indeed have generations of artists before them. This year’s prize shows the need for the support of a timeless response – that of interpreting our artistic experiences in a manner based in representation.”

The six shortlisted artists - Sue Williams A’Court, Thomas Allen, Sarah Ball, Tina Jenkins, David Teager-Portman and Craig Wylie - have been selected by a panel of experts comprising Arts Commissioning Editor and Art Critic at The Times, Nancy Durrant; Internationally exhibited and collected sculptor, Kevin Francis Gray; Independent Advisor and Curator of the Hiscox Collection, Whitney Hintz; and Gallerist and Founder of Art Dubai, John Martin, who has two gallery spaces in London.

Lewis McNaught, Director of Mall Galleries, who has overseen the Prize since its inception, adds: “The Threadneedle Prize exhibition gives a powerful voice to figurative art through a range of different subjects, techniques and mediums. This year’s shortlist of up and coming artists is taking the Prize to a new level of achievement. Visitors to the exhibition will also enjoy a selection of works by more established artists invited by guest curator Sacha Craddock. These complementary yet contrasting approaches to selection will reinforce the impact and influence that figurative art has within the context of contemporary art today.”

Guest curator Sacha Craddock’s selection in the ‘Curated Space’ will feature work by eight leading UK and international artists, all of whom use figurative art as their starting point. Together they will enhance and complete the exhibition’s comprehensive annual survey of Figurative Art Today.

The Threadneedle Prize was established in 2008 and has the continued support of Threadneedle Investments, a leading international investment manager, demonstrating their long-term commitment to supporting the arts. Through the Threadneedle Foundation, the company is committed to investing in the community, building partnerships that create positive social impact across a range of sectors, with a particular focus on art and education.

All works are for sale, and all exhibitors are eligible for the £10,000 Visitors’ Choice Award. The winner of the 2014 Threadneedle Prize finalist will be announced at an Awards Dinner on 23 September.

Shortlisted artists:

Sue Williams A’Court (b. 1964)

In her early career as an illustrator Sue established an international reputation with agents in London, Paris, New York and Tokyo. She has since developed her painting practice, exhibiting regularly in London with paintings in public and private collections in the UK and Europe. Previously she has been selected for The Jerwood Drawing Prize, John Moore’s Painting Prize, the Royal Academy Summer exhibition and the National Art Open Competition.

Thomas Allen (b. 1989)

As a self-taught artist, Thomas’s distinctive style is a product of his personal experimentation and artistic enquiry. The concepts behind his work often draw upon the ideas he was exposed to while studying for his degree in Sociology. Since graduating, Thomas has received the Anthony J Lester Art Critic Award, the SEAWARD Prize and the Arts Club Award at the annual exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. His work has been exhibited in different venues, including the Royal College of Art, the London Science Museum and previously at Mall Galleries.

Sarah Ball (b. 1965)

Sarah Ball grew up in South Yorkshire and studied at Newport Art College. Since completing an MFA at Bath Spa University in 2005 Sarah has exhibited widely including the Threadneedle Prize Exhibition, the Royal Academy Summer exhibition, National Open Art Competition and the University of Glamorgan Purchase Prize. She is currently Welsh Artist of the year and is working towards a show in Dallas this Autumn.

Tina Jenkins (b. 1966)

Tina was runner up in the Marmite Painting prize in 2010 and was featured in Two and a Half Dimensions curated by Marcus Harvey at Pangolin in 2011. She had a solo show at studio 1:1 in 2012. She was awarded the Owen Ridley Prize at the University of Reading for an outstanding MFA project and is the recipient of a bursary from Reading University to research her PhD in 2014. Tina’s work plays on and around paintings historical constructs and limitations. She re-conceptualises Painting as a Hysterical act suggesting this can mobilise it as an affirmative force of thought.

David Teager-Portman (b. 1987)

David is a sculptor from the north of England, currently based in London. Having studied at Newcastle University BA Fine Art and Royal College of Art MA Sculpture he recently exhibited at Turner Contemporary Margate and The Wilson in Cheltenham. David has been selected for the Saatchi Gallery New Sensations twice, The Open West twice, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Coutts Sculpture Prize and The Catlin Guide.

Craig Wylie (b. 1973)

Craig was born in Masvingo, Zimbabwe and studied at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. He has had solo and group shows both in the UK and internationally – exhibiting in Germany, France, Belgium, Hong Kong, South Africa, Canada and the US. His work is represented in many private and public collections, including the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, with a painting of Dame Kelly Holmes, commissioned after he won the BP Portrait Prize in 2008. Craig lives and works in London.

Mall Galleries

The Mall (by Trafalgar Square)
London SW1 United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 79306844
info@mallgalleries.com
www.mallgalleries.org.uk

Opening hours

Daily from 10am to 5pm

Related images

1, 3, 4 & 6 Sarah Ball, Skin Painting Quadriptych, Oil
2 Craig Wylie, EW(hood), Oil on linen
5 Sue Williams ACourt, Anonymous 2, Graphite and paint on old book cover