Young Brits at Art Awards Winners announced
24 Jun 2010 10:40 AM
Eleven talented young artists were announced as winners of the Young Brits at Art awards 2010 at a ceremony in London’s Southbank Centre today. The winners are now set to have their artwork exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery, one of the most celebrated art venues in the country.
This year’s awards challenged entrants to ‘imagine a world without prejudice’. Entries ranged from traditional print and oil paintings to digital animation, film, sculpture and even a ‘4D’ art installation.
From the 1,700 entries in this year’s national art award, certain conclusions can be drawn about the way Britain’s youth picture prejudice and how they imagine a world without prejudice looks like. Unity, freedom and body image dominated the shortlist, giving the impression that youngsters essentially see a world without prejudice as a world where people are united by their similarities and celebrated for their differences.
The top three prizes went to 15 year-old Leanne Bramwell from Waterlooville, 16 year-old Sabrina Hasan from Enfield and 12 year-old Chloe Livingston from Glasgow.
Leanne is a student at Purbrook High School in Waterlooville, Hampshire. Her winning piece, entitled Looking in the Mirror, is a mixed media mono-print self portrait. Describing her inspiration, Leanne, said, “‘I experimented with mixed media using mono-print to get more accurate proportions on the face, and to help with the shading. I wanted to get the message across that it doesn't matter if you’re black or white; it's who you are that’s important.”
Sabrina Hasan’s piece addresses the idea of life in a more tolerant parallel world. A student at St Anne’s Catholic High School, Sabrina’s Cluttered is a digitally manipulated photo inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. On her work, Sabrina said; “The backwards writing on the surgical head shows what I want a world without prejudice to be like. It’s as if you step out of this world and into another through a mirror.’
Chloe Livingston attends Ladywell School in Glasgow. During a Young Brits at Art workshop, Chloe was introduced to the work of David Shrigley, who finds humour in flat depictions of triviality. Chloe’s final piece, The Beach House, is a painting using minimal means to make an observation about life without prejudice. Of her final piece, Chloe said, “I didn't want to paint anything sad. I wanted to paint a nice beach scene. All the houses look the same but there are different things happening in each one.”
The remaining finalists to make the top 11 are Maymana Arefin from Henrietta Barnett School, Hampstead, Eleanor Catlin and Sarah Redman, both from Streatham and Clapham High School, Ceitidh Chalmers from Stornoway, Amber Drummond from Penzance, Catherine Higgott from Llundudno, Hiba Khan from Chelmsford County High School and Elisha Lenford from Nottingham.
Neil Kinghan, Director General of Equality and Human Rights Commission, said; “The standard of the artwork this year was exceptional. The winners must be congratulated not just for their talent, but also for their inspiring vision of what a world without prejudice might be.”
At an award ceremony, hosted by MTV presenter Sarah-Jane Crawford and introduced by Neil Kinghan, each of the winners received framed copies of their award-winning art work and a luxury wooden chest filled with art materials.
Ends
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Notes to editors
Young Brits at Art
Young Brits at Art is a national art awards which invites young people aged 11-19 to create artwork expressing their vision of a world without prejudice.
The award promotes equality and human rights while complementing the National Curriculum in England and Wales, and the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland.
Key Skills qualifications:
- developed a critical appreciation of rights and responsibilities, fairness and justice
- communicating directly and with integrity to share information and ideas through visual and written means
- using art and creativity to aid enquiry, evaluation, problem solving and critical analysis
- improving learning and performance across the curriculum
Equality and Human Rights Commission
The Commission is a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006, which took over the responsibilities of Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission. It is the independent advocate for equality and human rights in Britain. It aims to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination, strengthen good relations between people, and promote and protect human rights. The Commission enforces equality legislation on age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status, and encourages compliance with the Human Rights Act. It also gives advice and guidance to businesses, the voluntary and public sectors, and to individuals.