Griffin Gallery is pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2016 Griffin Art Prize and exhibition. Out of 270 entries, six artists have been shortlisted and will take part in the prize exhibition from 24th November – 23rd December 2016.

The winner will be announced on 23rd November. The shortlisted artists are:

Pallas Citroen - a British multimedia artist specialising in sculpture, installation, painting and performance, and is influenced by the decadent and kitsch décor often from on film sets. Since completing her MA Fine Art from Central St Martin’s in 2012, she has been shortlisted for the prestigious Clifford Chance Sculpture Prize and also founded The Bomb Factory, an emerging cultural hub and arts centre in North London.

Cynthia Cruz - an American multimedia artist working primarily with the morbid images that emerge from shocking news stories. Working across photography, video, painting and drawing, Cynthia completed her MFA at Goldsmiths in 2014, and won the Acme Studios Goldsmiths MFA Studio Award last year

Olivia Kemp - Olivia's drawings are concerned with notions of wilderness and tensions between the natural and manmade. She has exhibited at Saatchi Gallery and National Gallery, and won the Jealous Prize during her MA Drawing at Wimbledon College of Art. She has previously held artist residencies in Italy, Madrid and at Dumfries House as part of the Royal Drawing School.

Uesing Lee - a Glasgow-based Korean artist who completed his MFA from Glasgow School of Art this year, after graduating from his BFA Fine Art in Incheon, Korea. Through drawing, sculpture and installation, Lee explores the links between social interaction and manual labour.

Ana Milenkovic - a Serbian artist who works across assemblage, collage and photography, often creating chaotic and disturbing images in the process. She completed her BA and MA Fine Art in Serbia and finished her MFA at Wimbledon College of Art in 2014, and has since won the prestigious Clifford Chance Sculpture Award.

Emma Papworth - completed her BA Fine Art at The Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University and has been living and working in Berlin since graduating last year. Her practice plays upon the language of architecture and industrial productions as she makes casts that relate to the relationship and dialogue between the body and simple unitary objects.

Now in its fifth year, the Griffin Art Prize has established itself as an indicator of some of the most exciting emerging contemporary artists in painting and drawing. The prize selects applicants who have graduated from recognised art schools with a BA or MA within the last seven years. Alongside the Catlin Art Prize and Bloomberg New Contemporaries, the Griffin Art Prize aims to discover the stars of tomorrow and in the process to highlight the extraordinary calibre of emerging artistic talent in the UK.

Designed to have meaningful impact on the career of one emerging artist, the Griffin Art Prize offers an annual residency for emerging UK based artists in painting and drawing. It provides the time, space, materials and support to develop work in order to launch a career in London.

The winner of the 2016 Griffin Art Prize will be announced on 23rd November and will win a three-month studio residency at Griffin Gallery and receive a supply of artist materials from Winsor & Newton, Liquitex and Conté à Paris. As part of the residency programme the winning artist will be in the unique position of seeking advice from paint chemists at Winsor & Newton and Liquitex, whilst experimenting with new artist materials suited to their practice.

This year’s shortlist was selected by Rebecca Lewin, Curator at Serpentine Galleries; Jenny Lindén Urnes, owner and Chairman of Lindéngruppen, Becca Pelly-Fry, Head Curator for ColArt International and Director of Griffin Gallery, and British artist Vicky Wright, who was selected as one of JJ Charlesworth’s “FutureGreats” for 2015.

For more details visit the webiste www.griffingallery.co.uk

The drawing below is Untitled by Olivia Kemp