Black Swan Arts in Frome has announced the winners of its fifteenth annual art Open show, which has won plaudits from judges and visitors who have praised the exceptional standard of this year’s work.
The Black Swan Arts Open is an annual competition for original artwork by established practitioners and emerging artists, and has established a reputation for attracting some of the very best contemporary artists and artworks. This year the work includes painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, photography, sculpture, moving image, multi-media, digital and textiles.
The 2017 panel of judges – writer and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, Dea Vanagan (director of Hauser & Wirth Somerset), Stephen Snoddy (director of the New Art Gallery Walsall), Gary Sangster (director of Drawing Projects UK) and Seamus Nicolson (winner of Black Swan Arts Solo Show Prize in 2015) – picked Katharine Fry’s video installation ‘Tablemouth’ as this year’s winner.
She travelled from London to collect the Hauser & Wirth Somerset First Prize of £750. Katharine also won the Babington House Mentoring Award. Highly commended were Jenny Graham’s ‘Into Elysium’, Fiona Hingston’s ‘Empty Vessels’, Steve Joyce’s ‘Interference Fit’, Dan Morley’s ‘Antique Memory’ and Annie Ward’s ‘Bound to the Mill’.
The Black Swan Arts ‘solo show prize’, chosen by the Black Swan Arts programming group, went to Volkhardt Mueller for his video projection ‘Videotopia – English themes after Claude Lorrain’. His show will take place in 2019 in the Long Gallery. Highly commended pieces were Susan Phillips’ ‘No.45-2015, Chris Dunseath’s ‘Cauldron Series #2’ and Andrea Clark’s ‘Evening 2’.
The Mount Art student prize went to Daniel McGirr for ‘Erosion of the Flesh’, the Postscript 3D Prize to Bea Haines for ‘Nest’ and Sam’s Kitchen and Deli ‘local artist prize’ to Malcolm Ashman for ‘Villa’.
The Frome Town Council ‘people’s choice award’ will be voted for by visitors and awarded at the end of the show on 29th November, so drop in, enjoy the exhibition and pick your favourite piece. All the work on show is for sale so it’s a fantastic opportunity to buy a unique piece of artwork and support your local arts centre.
Gary Sangster, judge and trustee, Arnolfini said, “The BSO has an advancing reputation for selecting exceptional winners, and provides all the participants with an exciting platform for developing their work.
“It was a privilege for me to work with such a highly experienced and well-credentialled jury, including a professional artist and recent awardee of the BSO, a director from a major international gallery, a national museum director, and a professional journalist, as well as an international curator/ academic. I am sure all those recognised with awards will benefit from the ambitious and highly selective Black Swan Open art exhibition. I look forward to following the exciting development of the Black Swan Open and the artists presented in the future.”
For further details please visit www.blackswan.org.uk or contact Morag Stuart at ex hibitions@blackswan.org.uk
