Londoners Flourish in Prestigious Jackson’s Open Painting Prize 2019

It’s every artist’s dream for their work to be exhibited to the public. Leading fine art supplies company, Jackson’s Art Supplies, hosts an international competition each year, which encourages artists of all ages and abilities to paint, draw or print to their art’s content for their chance to win a share of £10,000 in prizes and the opportunity to exhibit their work at the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead. This year revealed London’s artistic talent – half of the winners were from the creative city!

Jackson’s Open Painting Prize returned this year for the fourth time. It has grown immensely over the past few years and this year was no exception with 5,366 entrants from around the world. The finalists were judged by an exclusive panel of 6 leading figures in the art community from across the globe.

The competition consists of six categories under which artists can submit their entries: Animals; Landscape/Cityscape/Seascape; Non-representational/Abstract; Portrait/Figure; Scenes of Everyday Life and Still Life/Botanical. This gives artists working across a variety of media and styles the chance to display their unique works of art on an international scale. Here are the Londoners who claimed first prize in their respective categories:

The overall Emerging Artist Prize went to London based multi-disciplinary artist, Ruairi Fallon McGuigan, 25, for his piece entitled ‘“Caravan I”. The painting engages with the London housing crisis, rising costs of rent and ways of alternative living. Born in Belfast, Ruairi’s mother, Julie Fallon, is a mosaic artist. Having been surrounded by colours and patterns while growing up, the artist incorporates this vibrancy into his paintings. Ruairi’s biggest influencers are, amongst many, Käthe Kollwitz, Mike Nelson, Gillian Wearing and Euan Uglow, along with a multitude of contemporary artists he follows on social media platforms. 

For the Landscape/Seascape/Cityscape Category, Londoner, Caio Locke won first place. His painting entitled, “Metropolis London” reconsiders the multiple layers of the city of London through a dream-like filter. Based in South London where he also has a studio, the self-taught artist has been painting full-time for around 12 years. “Metropolis London” is somewhat of an ode to the city of London, to which Caio says he has a deep personal connection.

The second Londoner to win was Nadja Gabriela Plein, 41, who took first place in the Abstract/Non-representational Category with “Wechsellied”, an oil on dibond piece which has to do with sensation and the present moment. A graduate of the Turps Art School painting programme, the painting teacher all has a doctorate from the Royal College of Music. Her work overlaps with her Buddhist meditation practice, exploring movement in the non time-based medium of painting.

From Stoke Newington, London, self-taught artist Rosso Emerald Crimson took first place for the Portrait/Figure Category Prize with her oil on canvas piece entitled, “Walthamstow Central”. Inspired by a spontaneous moment at the train station, the painting depicts an unknown father and daughter duo sitting on a beach as they wait for their train to arrive. She is almost entirely self-taught, having only briefly studied at the Prince Drawing School and the London Atelier of Representational Art before going on to become a full-time painter.

The overall winner of the Jackson’s Open Painting Prize 2019 was Yorkshireman, Iain Nicholls, for his piece entitled, “Elsecar Canal”, which was inspired by a walk Iain took one morning along an old unused canal near his home in Darfield near Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Despite not currently residing in the London, he 51-year old artist studied painting at Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College in the city of creativity.

“Jackson’s Open Painting Prize is an incredible way for artists from all across the globe to share their creativity,” says Gary Thompson, Director of Jackson’s Art Supplies. “We were delighted to see artists of all ages and abilities this year, as well as a wide variety of media. Congratulations to each and every winner – we are thrilled at the talent discovered this year and are incredibly excited for these works to be displayed at the upcoming Affordable Art Fair Hampstead!”

*Affordable Art Fair Hampstead: A selection of the winning pieces will be on display as part of the Jackson’s Open Painting Prize 2019 finalists exhibition at The Affordable Art Fair Hampstead. The Fair has something for everyone, exhibiting an expertly curated collection of contemporary artworks by new and established artists.

Notes for Editors

The prize-winning artworks can be viewed here. 

The winner of the People’s Choice Award went to Ali Bannister from Gloucestershire for her pastel piece entitled “The Spanish Horse”. 

Taking first place in the Still Life/Botanical Category was Paul Stone with his oil on canvas work, “United Nation”, which depicts natural subject matter forced into close proximity.

For the Animal Category, first place was awarded to Argentinian artist, Gisela Banzer for her acrylic on canvas painting entitled, “Habitat memories 2”. This piece is based on the humanisation of fauna at risk of extinction as a testament of their passage and imminent disappearance.

The winner of the category for Scenes of Everyday Life was Mark Finch with “Circean Poisons”. The oil on linen painting draws inspiration from the classic Greek story of Odysseus and his men’s plight at the hands of Circe, retelling it within a contemporary setting.

About the Judges

Artist and curator, Andrew Bick, is based in London. He explores the complex and ambivalent nature of our relationship to modernism through his art and in his practice and curatorial work, reconfigures principles of concrete art in relation to the contemporary art practice, its social impact and sustainability. He currently supervises PhD students at Kingston University and University of Gloucestershire, and is a Reader in Fine Art. He is Chair of the Board of Tannery Arts London and also on the advisory board of Drawing Room, London. Bick is represented in multiple public and private collections globally, including The British Museum; Yale Center for British Art; GoMA, Glasgow; and Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich.

Kerry Ann Lee is a third-generation Chinese descent artist, designer and educator from Aotearoa, New Zealand. Her work has explored urban settlement and culture class in the Asia-Pacific region and exhibits her work regularly in her home country. She has a background in graphic art and creates multi-media installations as well as print and image-based artworks. Lee is the Creative Director of the 2019 Asian Aotearoa Arts Hui, as well as Senior Lecturer at the School of Design at Massey University CoCA. She is particularly well known for her work with independent publishing and fanzines over the past 20 years

Tom Down from Birmingham, is last year’s  Jackson’s Open Painting Prize winner. His work entitled, ‘frontier’, was chosen out of 3,327 international entries and made it through multiple rounds of judging by a panel of art experts. His success meant he received £5,000, a placement at the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead, a seat on the exhibition panel discussion and amazing exposure across social media. He currently lives and works in London and graduated with a BA in Fine Art: Painting from Wimbledon College of Art. This year, he also had works exhibited in the John Moores Painting Prize, as well as in Germany as part of Sluice Exchange: Berlin. Down’s paintings are currently held in private collections in both the UK and USA.

Artist and author, Haidee-Jo Summers is a British painter and full member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, as well as an associate member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. She is best known for her fresh, vibrant and lively landscape and seascapes painted en plein air, preferring to work outdoors rather than in a studio. Her artworks are regularly featured in The Artist magazine and she published a book in 2016 entitled, ‘Vibrant Oils’, along with an accompanying DVD. ‘Vibrant Oils’ has been printed in French, Italian, Spanish and Chinese as well.

Next up, curator and producer, Yves Blais works for Outset Contemporary Art Fund, which is an international, independent concept that provides bespoke funding solutions to support new and upcoming art. Here, he manages Studiomakers, a private-public initiative to counteract the loss of affordable creative workspaces in London. Over 2018 and 2019, Blais has overseen a series of week-long exhibitions, Fig-Futures, as well as a museum acquisitions programme across four UK art institutions. He also produced an exhibition, ‘Love is Enough’, surveying Andy Warhol and William Morris by Jeremy Deller at Modern Art Oxford.

Director, curator and publisher, Jennifer Conner is the final judge on the panel. She is originally from Manhattan but moved to the UK in 1997 after Sotheby’s auction house transferred her to become Senior VP and Head of Marketing for Europe. After a decade in this role, Conner served five years as Managing Director of the prestigious Lisson Gallery, before becoming COO of Karla Otto, an international luxury marketing and communications agency. She leads the Affordable Art Fair team in the UK, is Director of the After Nyne Creative Services Group and is also publisher of the After Nyne Magazine.