SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR UK NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD
After a record breaking 1,300+ entries, the shortlist has been announced for this year’s Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award 2022.
Now in its third year, the awards – a named the Best Arts & Culture Programme at the Corporate Engagement Awards – will see 10 shortlisted artists have the honour of exhibiting their work at the prestigious Saatchi Gallery in London on Thursday 10 November 2022, where the overall winner of the £10,000 cash prize will be announced at a VIP awards evening.
The runner up will receive a cash prize of £5,000, with the prize money for first and second prize to support the development of the artists’ future careers in the industry.
The award set out to discover and champion exceptional emerging artists who are representative of contemporary Britain, and has brought back together three leading organisations – global recruitment consultancy Robert Walters Group, leading arts charity UK New Artists, and renowned contemporary art platform Saatchi Gallery – to help provide a career springboard for emerging artists.
Within this year’s brief: ‘The Unimagined Future’ judges asked artists to cast their sights forward to submit work which explored predictions of where creative thought and ideas will be in the next decade – anticipating and exploring their own conceptions of what the inconceivable future holds and what need to change.
Judges will include Robert Walters – art enthusiast, collector and CEO of Robert Walters Group; Paul Foster – Director of Saatchi Gallery; Michelle Bowen – Director of UK New Artists; Lisa Gee – longstanding Director of the Harley Foundation Charitable Trust; Saad Eddine Said – internationally-acclaimed curator and Artistic Director and CEO of New Art Exchange; Won Hee Nam – CEO of Art Lab N3 and Gallery N&K based in Seoul, South Korea; and Anne von Freyburg – artist and winner of the 2021 UK New Artist of the Year awards.
The awards ceremony and finalist exhibition at Saatchi Gallery will be curated by Garth Gratrix – an international artist, curator, Clore Visual Arts Fellow and studio director based in the northwest. Gratrix’s work often showcases cross-disciplinary practices in diverse and unique settings.
The 2022 finalists are: Damien Cifelli (London), Polina Filippova (London), Farnaz Gholami (London), Rodrigues Goncalves (Sunderland), Habib Hajallie (South East), Tyreis Holder (London), Anne Moses (Yorkshire), Jacob Talkowski (London), Ella van der Straaten (Nottingham) and Joanna van Son (London).
Robert Walters, CEO of Robert Walters Group comments:
“Following on from the resounding success of the 2021 awards we are returning in 2022 with an even more astonishing amount of entries – a 40% increase on last year!”
“It is the third year of running this award and we are so proud that such an important platform where we are providing a springboard for new artists has been acknowledged by the Corporate Engagement Awards – where we have been awarded Gold for ‘Best Arts and Culture Programme’ and Silver for ‘Best Collaboration for a Single Event’ – further testifying to the programme’s far-reaching importance within both creative and corporate spheres.”
“The ethos behind the awards is to provide opportunities for ambitious professionals to achieve their potential – a sentiment that is foundational to our business, so we are proud to be working alongside UK New Artists and Saatchi Gallery on this important initiative. We truly believe it will help launch the careers of the next generation of exceptional UK artists.”
Michelle Bowen, Director, UK New Artists adds:
“In its third iteration, the Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award continues to unearth a treasure trove of amazing work being made by new artists in the UK, and myself and my fellow judges had the very difficult task of selecting the final ten. These ten artists each have a strong original voice and a unique perspective on the world, which is both engaging and inspiring and highlights the breadth and range of the visual arts in 2022.”
Paul Foster, Gallery Director of Saatchi Gallery remarks:
“Following the success of the 2021 exhibition, we are proud to support our gallery patron Robert Walters in hosting the new edition, in partnership with UK New Artists. The award is an important platform in developing the careers of the UK’s diverse young talent and gives artists the opportunity to present their work to a wider audience, aligning with our charity mission to make contemporary art accessible to all.”
