A tiny oil-on-copper painting of a tent has won a leading art prize open to artists across the North. Joanna Whittle’s Sorrowing Cloth, which measures just 10cm by 15cm, took the £10,000 Valeria Sykes Award at the opening of the prestigious New Light Prize Exhibition at Scarborough Art Gallery at the weekend.
The exhibition, which can be seen at the Scarborough gallery until January 17, 2021 before moving to Carlisle, Newcastle and London, aims to shine a light on Northern art. Established in 2010, New Light celebrates and promotes both well-known and emerging artists by offering some of the region’s best awards and opportunities with the biennial New Light Prize Exhibition, fast becoming one of the UK’s largest and most talked-about open exhibitions.
It also runs New Light Art for All, an education programme which includes talks, workshops and school projects, and the New Light Collection, which will be launched this spring and aims to make the best in Northern visual arts available to more people, by loaning pieces free of charge to public bodies and charities.
Other prize-winners were:
The £2,500 Patron’s Choice Award (all exhibited works considered): Victor Harris, from Waterfoot, Rossendale, in Lancashire, for his oil on linen, Forlorn.
The Emerging Artists Prize – sponsored by The Saul Hay Gallery, Manchester (offering mentoring, professional advice and exhibition opportunities including a solo show): Linnet Rubaya, from Leeds, for her acrylic on canvas, Seen.
The Printmakers’ Prize – sponsored by The Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk (all forms of original printmaking eligible; the winner is offered a solo exhibition in the Zillah Bell Gallery, host to some of the UK’s best printmakers’ shows): Ian Brooks, from Leeds, for his etching, Across Borge Bay.
New Light Purchase Prize (the selected work is purchased by the charity to add to its Collection): Christian Alexander Bailey, from Harrogate, for his pen-and-ink drawing, Tree Sparrow.
A final award, The Visitors’ Choice, will be made at the end of the Scarborough exhibition and announced at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle. It recognises the work which strikes a chord with visitors, who are asked to vote for their favourite artwork.
Main image: Joanna Whittle, Sorrowing Cloth
