16 June 2008

35-YEAR-OLD LONDON ARTIST WINS BP PORTRAIT AWARD WITH LARGE-SCALE PAINTING OF HIS GIRLFRIEND
- Hackney artist wins £25,000 first prize for his first BP shortlisted work after three years of being exhibited

ON MONDAY 16 JUNE the winner of the BP Portrait Award 2008 was announced by Ian Hislop at the National Portrait Gallery. In a record-breaking year for entries from non-UK artists, the prestigious first prize was won by 35-year-old London artist Craig Wylie. His winning portrait, K (oil on canvas, 2100 x 1650 mm), is an epic study of his girlfriend Katherine Raw based on sittings at his Hackney Wick studio. Craig wins £25,000 and a commission, at the National Portrait Gallery Trustees' discretion, worth £4,000.

The second prize of £8,000 goes to Simon Davis for Portrait of Amanda Smith at Vincent Avenue and the third prize of £6,000 goes to Robert O'Brien for Hannah O'Brien.

There is, also for the second time, a BP Young Artist Award of £5,000 for the work of an entrant aged between 18 and 30. This has been won by Peiyuan Jiang for Untitled.

Craig Wylie (b 17.06.1973), who turns 35 today (17 June) was shortlisted for the first time this year, having been included in the BP Portrait Award exhibition for the past three years. His winning portrait of his girlfriend, Katherine Raw, is based on sittings from his Hackney Wick studio in 2005. He made two previous attempts at the painting through 2006, starting the final version in 2007. 'On one level the viewer's intrusion into the sitter's emotional state is tacitly accepted,' he says, 'on another it is positively rebuffed.' Craig now lives and works in London. He graduated in fine art from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa in 1996 and has exhibited widely.

Second Prize: Simon Davis (b 08.06.1968) for Portrait of Amanda Smith at Vincent Avenue (oil on board, 650 x 398 mm). Simon Davis, who has a background in illustration and design and lives in Worcestershire, was exhibited in the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London in 2006 and 2007. For his shortlisted portrait of his friend Amanda Smith, Davis was influenced by a study by Toulouse-Lautrec of his mother. 'I had previously painted a number of closer-in portraits of Amanda,' he says, 'but this time I wanted the composition to have a calm and contemplative feel to it with a lot of space around it.' The sitting took place on a sunny Sunday morning at Amanda's house.

Third Prize: Robert O'Brien (b 24.02.1978) for Hannah O'Brien (oil on board, 300 x 400 mm). Robert O'Brien is a figurative portrait artist living and working in London and Sweden. In 2000 he started studying for a degree at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University and in the final year was given the opportunity to study abroad at Stenebyskolan, Sweden, where he graduated in 2003 with a BA in Design. His shortlisted portrait is of his grandmother who died on October 26, 2007. The sittings, which were kept short because of her poor health, took place in the Grange Care Centre, Hayes, Middlesex. 'I've always thought of my Grandmother as a strong, determined woman,' says Robert, 'who overcame great hardships and difficulties in her life and that is how I wanted to portray her.'

Young Artist Award: Peiyuan Jiang (b 05.10.1983) for Untitled (oil and acrylic on canvas, 700 x 800 mm) Peiyuan Jiang was born in China and lives in London where he is currently studying for an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design. He exhibited in the 2007 Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours Annual Exhibition at the Mall Gallery, London, and the 2006 RBSA Friends Exhibition at the RBSA Gallery, Birmingham. Peiyuan Jiang, who says he is influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, was shortlisted for his portrait of his flatmate, Malgosia. He painted her only one week after meeting her for the first time. 'Ever since I saw the BP Portrait Prize last year,' he says, 'I'd intended to enter and had been looking for a subject. I only know a little bit about this woman, the small things you glean from being housemates.'

In addition, The BP Travel Award 2008 winner was also announced last night. Emmanouil Bitsakis wins for his proposal to travel to Northwest China, in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, focusing around the capital city of Urumqi. He receives a bursary of £5,000 to travel and paint portraits for next year's BP Portrait Award exhibition of the "Faces of the Uigur through Song & Dance." The Uigur, part of the extended family of Turkish peoples who inhabit most of central Asia, remain culturally distinct from the Han Chinese. Emmanouil Bitsakis says he 'would like to record in portrait form the uniqueness of this minority culture to demonstrate a small part of the vastness of China.'

The work of the 2007 Travel Award winners Timothy Hyman and Gareth Reid is on display at this year's exhibition.

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2008 EXHIBITION

The BP Portrait Award 2008 and Travel Award 2007, National Portrait Gallery, London, 12 June-14 September 2008, Admission free.

The BP Portrait Award 2008 was judged anonymously from 1,727 registered entries. For the second year running, the competition has been open to all over the age of 18, and of the 1,727 entries 1,226 (71%) were from artists aged 40 or over. 536 entries (31% of the total) came from outside the UK.

55 portraits - 38 from the UK and 17 from abroad - have been selected for the exhibition which runs at the National Portrait Gallery from 12 June to 14 September.

The Portrait Award, now in its 29th year at the National Portrait Gallery and 19th year of sponsorship by BP, is a highly successful annual event aimed at encouraging artists to focus upon, and develop, the theme of painted portraiture within their work.

The competition was judged from original paintings by this year's panel;

• Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London (Chair)
• Sadie Coles, Director Sadie Coles HQ, London
• David Mach RA, Artist
• Corinne Miller, Head of Arts and Museums, Wolverhampton
• Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP

Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, says: 'These are superb portraits, each of the 2008 prize-winners being a different scale and style. Painted portraiture is flourishing.'

Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP, says: 'The quality and variety of this year's entries, from artists across all age ranges, once again show that the art of portraiture is in rude health and continues to thrive, in the UK and internationally.'

The BP Travel Award is open to applications from any of the BP Portrait Award-exhibited artists. The BP Travel Award was judged by Sarah Howgate, Contemporary Curator, National Portrait Gallery, Liz Rideal, Art Resource Developer, National Portrait Gallery and Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts and Culture, BP.

TOUR
The BP Portrait Award and Travel Award exhibition will tour to Wolverhampton Art Gallery (27 September -14 November 2008) and Aberdeen Art Gallery (29 November 2008-24 January 2009.)

PUBLICATION
A fully-illustrated book accompanies the exhibition and features an introductory essay by Alexander McCall Smith, author of the hugely successful No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. The BP Portrait Award 2008 book includes 67 colour illustrations, price £8.50 (pbk).

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2008 - OVERALL FIGURES

BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2008 - EXHIBITION FIGURES (55 SELECTED FROM TOTAL ENTRY)

National Portrait Gallery opening hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday: 10am - 6pm (Gallery closure commences at 5.50pm) Late Opening: Thursday, Friday: 10am - 9pm (Gallery closure commences at 8.50pm) Recorded information: 020 7312 2463 General information: 020 7306 0055 Website: www.npg.org.uk Underground: Leicester Square/Charing Cross

For further press information please contact:
Neil Evans, Press Office, National Portrait Gallery
Tel 020 7312 2452 or 07790 428638 (not for publication) Email nevans@npg.org.uk

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