March 19, 2024

FDBZ

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“Winners” Exhibition at the Mall Galleries

"Winners" Exhibition at the Mall Galleries

Yesterday I
reviewed the Winners Exhibition at the Mall Galleries. In this post I’m going to comment on the artwork which stood out for
me. 

Artwork worth a mention

I’ve grouped images of artwork I liked according to broad subject matter
/ genre.

Portraits/figures

I’d be entirely unsurprised if I had seen this double portrait painting in
what used to be the annual exhibition of the BP Portrait Award. It’s large and
expensive….

Emily Gillbanks
completes her MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in September and this
painting was included in her degree show in June. I predict we’ll be seeing a
lot of her work in future.

Oil, 160 x 190 cm, £16,588

EMILY GILLBANKS (b. 1999) is a Painter and Researcher who grew up
on the Essex and Suffolk border, United Kingdom. Emily was most
recently awarded the Royal College of Art’s Fribourg Philanthropies
Painting Prize 2022, and in 2021 her painting Three Things was
awarded The de László medal for Excellence by The de László
Foundation.

Frances Bell‘s portraits are getting better and better and she seems to be much in
demand for commissions – and I’m not surprised! She has shown in the Royal
Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition since 2005. 

Edd in the Window by Frances Bell RP AROI
Oil, 80 x 80 cm (94 x 94 cm framed), £7,800


Left: Will You Hear Me? by Curtis Holder
Coloured pencil, 120 x 120 cm (130 x 130 cm
framed), £4,250

Right: Sunday 5:04 am by Curtis Holder
Coloured pencil, 140 x 120 cm (145 x 124
cm framed), £4,500

I’m a fan of those who paint paintings by other artists – particularly if
they are paintings I recognise and also like a lot – such as in this
smallish painting by Robbie Wraith.

Keys & Postcards by Robbie Wraith RP
Watercolour, 41 x 28 cm (53 x 43 cm framed), £3,500
I very much liked these two black crayon drawings by
Shaun Duke
– who’s a new name to me. He won The Pastel Society Young Artist Award in 2022. However it’s very easy to see that he’s got considerable
skills in drawing people. I also prefer his line drawings to his
paintings.

both in Black crayon, 56 x 38 cm (75 x 53 cm framed),
£650

The transient nature of the sittings is of great importance. To provide
an honest account, marks are rarely erased and his works on paper are
never altered after a session has ended. Duke wants to record instances
in time between people and believes that only through documenting these
small moments can we reveal a truthful view of contemporary culture.

Plants

As some may be aware I’m very engaged by those who draw or paint plants.

I loved these two stylised and organised paintings of Euphorbia Leaves II and Silage Grass VI by Gareth Brown
RSMA. Gareth has a way of being able to see abstracted shapes and forms in
natural subject matter. I’m a big fan and I’ve been repeatedly highlighting
his paintings in reviews of the RSMA exhibitions 
Cherryl Fountain
is a very fine watercolour painter, renowned for her ability to paint
detail. She has a brother with a very extensive collection of chilli plants
and this is not the first painting of Chillies by Cherryl Fountain that I’ve
seen. It’s a somewhat curious diptych.
Chilli Mania by Cherryl Fountain
Watercolour
81 x 70 cm (84 x 74 cm framed)
£1,900

Food 

I’m very fond of drawing plates of food so am apt to be impressed by anybody
who does a really job of painting food! I remember
Ollie Tuck
from the RSMA exhibition. She won the RSMA New Generation Award 2021
and she’s great at painting fish! She’s also very sensible in releasing her
artwork in batches and invites people to sign up to her newsletter.

Landscapes

Andrii Kateryniuk was born in 1994 and is Ukrainian representational artist,
currently based in Florence, Italy. He was the Surgeon’s prize winner at
the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists in 2021.

Tomorrow there’s going to be an analysis of pricing of early sales – within
the context of what’s happening economically at the moment.