Winners of the Black Swan Arts Open Exhibition announced

Black Swan Arts in Frome has announced the winners of its fourteenth annual Open show which has proved a huge hit with both judges and visitors who have praised the exceptionally high standard of this year’s submissions.

The Black Swan Arts Open is an annual competition for original artwork by both established practitioners and emerging artists, and has established a reputation for attracting some of the very best contemporary artists and artworks. The work this year includes an eclectic range of work including painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, photography, sculpture, moving image, multi-media, digital and textiles. All the work is for sale, so the show offers a great opportunity to buy a unique piece of artwork.

The 2016 panel of judges included Gavin Turk, professor of art and design at Bath School of Art and Design; Lucy MacDonald, associate director of Hauser & Wirth Somerset; Suzanne Bisset, director of Bruton Art Factory; and artists Lawrence Nash RWA and Mark Francis. The panel picked John Robinson’s ‘Dear Diego’ as this year’s winner – he travelled from Wincanton to collect the Hauser & Wirth Somerset first prize of £750. Highly commended were Neil Fuller for ‘Apples and Pears’, Eleanor Bartlett for ‘Juxtaposition’, Dick Hewitson for ‘Sentinel – Water Tower 4’, Elizabeth Byrne for ‘Holographic Island’ and Michael Falzonni for ‘Palm Trees of Joujouka’.  Normally the judges give four Highly Commended Awards, but as Laurence Nash said, ‘The work is so impressive this year, it was difficult to limit the choice to four.”

The Black Swan Arts Solo Show Prize, chosen by the Black Swan Programming Group went to Steve Burden for ‘Abattoir’. His show will take place in 2018 in The Long Gallery and promises to be stunning. The Highly commended pieces were Jane Colquhoun for ‘Beach Somewhere’, Dan des Enyon for ‘In the Company of Silence’ and Eleanor Bartlett’s second award for her piece ‘Juxtaposition’. The Mount Art prize went to Kate Walters for ‘My Dogs Keep Watch As I Pray’, the Postscript prize to Lyn Kirkland for ‘Battling Demons (Hear No Evil)’ and the Vametrice prize to Malcolm Ashman for ‘Øya’. The Frome Town Council People’s Choice award will be voted for by visitors and awarded at the end of the show on 19th November.

Judge Lucy MacDonald said, “It has been an absolute pleasure to be part of the 2016 Black Swan Open.”

The artists involved have also been delighted, both with the high standard of work and the excellent curation. Postscript winner Lyn Kirkland said, “I am thrilled and humbled to have been chosen as a prize winner with such amazing talent in the room.”

For further information about the Open visit www.blackswan.org.uk/artsopen2016 or contact Jasmine Smart at exhibitions@blackswan.org.uk or 01373 473980.