A first year undergraduate BA art student from Wimbledon School of Art has won first prize in the UK’s most prestigious drawing competition, the Jerwood Prize 2005.
Juliette Losq beat off competition from a shortlist of 71 selected artists to win the £5,000 first prize at a presentation at the Jerwood Space in South London on September 13 2005.
Making the announcement and presenting a cheque of £5,000, chair of judges Professor Stephen Farthing RA said: “This is the most extraordinary winner we could have ever hoped for. We chose the first prize winner and there was absolutely no doubt in any of the judges' minds that we wanted this one.”
Using a combination of ink and watercolour masking fluids the large-scale pen and ink drawing ‘We are the fiction of the vanished lives and buildings’ documents the derelict waterways of the capital whilst referencing the tradition of the Victorian etched print.
“The most staggering thing after we decided on the winner, of course we didn’t know her name, was that it was a student – a first year BA student – who happened to go Wimbledon College of Art,” added Professor Farthing.
The judges, who also included writer and Professor of Art History at Oxford Martin Kemp and the writer and author Sarah Simblet, had to distil from the 2,600 entries some 78 works. Of the 71 artists chosen, a remarkable 19 were students.
This figure is a coup for the Jerwood Charity, which works collaboratively with Wimbledon School of Art on the yearly prize and has a special priority of supporting emerging artists.
Student Prizes were also awarded to Linda Meakin and Amanda Couch, whilst third and second prizes of £2,000 and £3,000 went to Peter Macdonald and Katie Cuddon respectively.
This last year has been the single biggest event to date and the final selection, which makes up the resulting exhibition, includes work from established and distinguished artists down to lesser-known ones. But the strength of the Jerwood Prize 2005 really lies in its diversity – not just the extraordinary quality of its drawing but the wide and liberal engagement with the practice.
As well as ink, graphite and charcoal on paper, this year’s Jerwood Prize exhibition features a hand-stitched drawing into the fabric of a footstool, a Letraset etching, digital animations and various DVD and video presentations that combine to stretch the accepted notions of drawing practice. But it was a large-scale pen and ink work that took the main plaudits on the night.
Speaking of his fellow judges and their unanimous decision, Professor Farthing added:
“It’s the first time I’ve ever judged an art competition when I didn’t feel like murdering one of them because however horrible it is to be rejected, it’s pretty horrible doing the rejections especially when you know the judges are getting it wrong.”
The Jerwood Prize 2005 runs at the Jerwood Space until October 17, 2005 before touring various venues across the UK.
