A local artist has been awarded the 2016 Columbia Threadneedle Prize, Europe’s leading open competition for figurative and representational art.
Lewis Hazelwood-Horner, who lives in Southgate, receives a cash prize of £20,000 and a solo exhibition for a wider body of his work at Mall Galleries later this year.
His winning work, Salt in Tea, was painted following a two-year residency at the bespoke umbrella shop James Smith & Sons in London’s West End. The title refers to when the craftsmen jokingly put salt or too much sugar in one another’s tea.
The winning picture - Salt in Tea by Lewis Hazelwood-Horner
Selection panellist Tim Knox, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, said, "This large and confident painting depicts real people with knotty hands and stubbly muzzles immersed in a timeless, archaic trade which hasn’t changed for hundreds of years. This very accomplished painting showcases grandeur, confidence, wit and gritty realism which truly impressed the judges who felt it had an enticing documentary quality."
lewis hazelwood-Hornerorner in his studio (photo by Horst Friedrichs)Selected from 3,828 entries submitted by 1,973 artists from 29 European countries, the winner was chosen by a panel that included Emma Crichton-Miller (journalist), David Dawson (artist, writer and photographer), Dr Arturo Galansino (Director General at Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence), Tim Knox (Director, Fitzwilliam Museum) and Lewis McNaught (Director, Mall Galleries).
Salt in Tea is included in the Columbia Threadneedle Prize exhibition at the Mall Galleries from 3rd to 20th February, along with 93 other selected works. A smaller selection of figurative works by five young Italian artists, specially curated by Dr Arturo Galansino, Director General of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, is exhibited alongside the Prize exhibition. Following this, a selection of works from the Prize exhibition in London will travel to the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence in an unprecedented exchange.
Lewis McNaught, Chair of the Selection Panel and Director of Mall Galleries said, “Visitors will be delighted by the strength and breadth of this year’s selection. The winning painting stood out for the scale of its ambition, while there are other works in the exhibition that push the boundaries of figurative and representational art into new territory. Support for this Prize from artists in the UK and across Europe just gets bigger as submissions get more ambitious.”
Visitors to the London exhibition are invited to vote for the Visitors’ Choice Award, a further prize worth £10,000 to the winning artist which will be announced once the exhibition closes.
