BP Portrait Award 2001

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2001

BP PORTRAIT AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

THE BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2001
21 June - 16 September 2001
Wolfson Gallery Admission free

Sponsored by BP p.l.c.

Jerry Hall announced the winners of the prestigious BP Portrait Award 2001 at an awards ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery last night (Tuesday 19 June).

The winner of the BP Portrait Award 2001 is:

Stuart Pearson Wright (b.1975)
Title of Portrait: The Six Presidents of the British Academy

Stuart wins £25,000 and, at the Trustee's discretion, a commission of £3,000 to paint a portrait for the Gallery's contemporary collection. Based in Eastbourne, Stuart has entered the Award four times in the past, winning the Travel Award in 1998. His winning portrait shows the six past and current presidents of the British Academy - Sir Tony Wrigley, Lord Quirk, Sir Anthony Kenny, Sir Kenneth Dover, Sir Keith Thomas and Rev. Prof. Owen Chadwick. Stuart has already undertaken commissions in the past including Kathy Burke, Mike Leigh and Richard E Grant.

Second prize has been won jointly by:

Phil Hale (b.1963)
Title of Portrait: Source X

Brendan Kelly (b.1970)
Title of Portrait: Nude in a Nightclub

Phil and Brendan will receive £4,000 each and therefore there is no third prize this year.

Phil Hale is based in London and won third prize in last year's BP Portrait Award. He has exhibited throughout Europe and undertaken many private commissions. His work has been published recently in two books Double Memory and, more recently, Goad. Source X is a self-portrait.

Brendan Kelly is based in Brighton and has previously been commended in the BP Portrait Award (1992 and 1993). He studied at Camberwell School of Art and the Slade School of Art before undertaking a sculpture scholarship in Athens. He has exhibited widely, mostly in Edinburgh and London, and won the Royal Scottish Academy McFarlane painting prize in 1995.

The following artists have been commended. Each wins £1,000:

Michael Gaskell (b.1963) John Patrick
David Hancock (b.1973) Something Beautiful, Something Free #27
H.Craig Hanna (b.1970) Carlos sitting on a clear plastic chair
Tom Leveritt (b.1976) Malerie's painting
Andrew Paterson (b.1962) Separation

Charles Saumarez Smith, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, said: " This year's BP Portrait Award as a whole demonstrates the range and liveliness of contemporary figurative painting. Three outstanding and ambitious works have won prizes and we are particularly pleased that this year's winner, most unusually, is a commissioned portrait."

Minister of State for the Arts, Baroness Blackstone, said: "I congratulate Stuart Pearson Wright on winning the BP Portrait Award 2001. This country has a long tradition of portraiture going back over many centuries. One of the main missions of the National Portrait Gallery is to display a collection of the most important portraits of people who have made a contribution to Britain. This partnership with BP is tremendously important in fostering new talent, like Stuart's, to continue and strengthen that tradition.
"It is one of my Department's most important objectives to encourage the creative energies of people throughout this country. I am therefore delighted to support awards such as this which give recognition and financial reward to young artists."

BP TRAVEL AWARD 2001

This year's BP Travel Award of £2,000 has been won by Alan Parker for his proposal to document the day to day life of the police force in Leicester. Alan is a police officer with Leicestershire Constabulary and will take leave to shadow the Squads and Beat Officers as they work in Leicester's diverse community, interacting with the public in a variety of circumstances. He aims to represent the cultural diversity of both Leicester's police force and community, capturing a modern city in a state of flux. The work which Alan completes during this period will be displayed next year alongside the BP Portrait Award 2002.

BP TRAVEL AWARD 2000
Last year the Travel Award was won by Si Sapsford for her proposal to capture the motivation and commitment of Lifeboat crews. She spent 2 weeks working and training with the Salcombe RNLI crew before travelling to Reykjavik with members of the crew who were on an exchange visit to Iceland. The work which Si completed during this period is displayed in Room 36, adjacent to the BP Portrait Award 2001.

Publication
For the first time, the National Portrait Gallery is publishing an illustrated catalogue to accompany this year's exhibition and to look back over the previous ten years of the Award. The publication includes an introductory essay by Martin Gayford. 64 pages with 104 colour illustrations. Price £12.95 paperback.

Notes to Editors

• The Portrait Award, now in its 21st year at the National Portrait Gallery and 11th year of sponsorship by BP, is a highly successful annual event aimed at encouraging young artists to focus upon, and develop, the theme of portraiture within their work. This year the first prize was raised by BP from £10,000 to £25,000, making the BP Portrait Award one of Britain's most prestigious and lucrative art prizes.
  
• This year the competition received over 600 entries of which 57 have been selected for display. The competition was judged from original paintings by this year's panel: Andrew Graham Dixon, Critic; Nicola Hicks, Artist; Jock McFadyen, Artist; Victoria Russell, Winner of BP Portrait Award 2000; Julia Somerville, Broadcaster; Dr Chris Gibson-Smith, Director, Policies and Technology, BP; Dr Charles Saumarez Smith, Director, National Portrait Gallery.
  
• The winning picture was commissioned by the British Academy who will be celebrating its centenary in 2002. The Academy is an independent and self-governing fellowship of scholars, elected for outstanding distinction in the humanities and social science. The Academy promotes the interests of learning and research nationally and internationally. It also acts as a grant-giving body, sponsoring its own research projects and facilitating the work of others.
  
• The BP Travel Award is an annual prize of £2,000, which allows young artists to expand their horizons and develop the theme of portraiture within their work .

Publication
For the first time, the National Portrait Gallery is publishing an illustrated catalogue to accompany this year's exhibition and to look back over the previous ten years of the Award.
The publication includes an introductory essay by Martin Gayford. 64 pages with 104 colour illustrations. Price £12.95 paperback.

Press images are available at Imagenet
Please visit www.imagenet.co.uk or contact Customer Support on 0541 522 333

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For further press information please contact:
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