The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021 exhibition will open to the public this November
Dates: 18 November – 5 December
Times: 11am – 4pm
Entry: Free
Location: Trinity Buoy Wharf, London
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021 Awards Announcement, September 2021
Photos by Benjamin Jones
Known as the UK’s most prestigious annual open exhibition for drawing, the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize received 3,300 entries from 1,673 drawing practitioners from 46 different countries for its 2021 exhibition.
Out of all the submissions, 114 drawings were selected for the exhibition, which will open to the public from 18 November to 5 December at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London.
Exhibitors at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021 Awards Announcement, September 2021, Photos by Benjamin Jones
The works in the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize exhibition reflect a broad scope of contemporary drawing practice by artists at all stages of their careers – living and working across the four nations of the UK as well as Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, and the USA.
The artworks span across all subjects, styles and techniques – including pencil, charcoal, pen, pastel, collage and thread. Some are so realistic that they will make viewers question whether they are actually drawings. Others display innovative processes: portraits drawn through touching the sitter rather than looking at them, images created while the artist’s hands were tied together, works made with frozen ink left to melt on paper, and so much more.
The shortlist gives us a glimpse into 90 artists’ preoccupations throughout 2021, from telling the story of the greatest Black Britons, to advocating for biodiversity, raising awareness around climate change, and advocating for feminist causes.
In a year where it has been more difficult to go out, many drawings invite us to look within, to slow down, take notice, record the everyday, and find little patches of beauty wherever we can.
Reflecting upon an uncertain time, an unclear future, and a brightening mood all at once – many shortlisted artists celebrate drawing as a form of “therapy”.
Left: Habib Hajallie, Mary Seacole, ballpoint pen on antique map, 33 x 27cm, 2020
Right: Mark Shields, Seer, charcoal on paper, 40 x 27cm, 2021
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021 exhibition includes 101 drawings by 89 artists selected by Sheela Gowda, Artist; Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art, National Galleries Scotland; and Zoé Whitley, Director of Chisenhale Gallery, London.
The Working Drawing Award and display of 13 drawings by 12 practitioners was selected by Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee; Charles O. Job, Designer and Architect; and Paul Finch, Programme Director of the World Architecture Festival.
The 101 drawings shortlisted for Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021 are by:
Valérie Abadie, Gabriela Adach, Marcelo Albagli, Claire Anscomb, Emily Ball, Federica Beretta, Victoria Clare Bernie, Jackie Berridge, Jules Bishop, Kate Black, Frances Aviva Blane, Caroline Blythe, Su Bonfanti, Georgia Boukla, Gavin Bowyer, Mark Boylan, Ann Bridges, Nell Brookfield, Chris Bruce, Ian Chamberlain, Kristina Chan, Yoonhee Choi, Philippa Clarke, Amy Collins, Karen Conway, Jacquetta Cook, Yvonne Crossley, Andrea Cryer, David Cutts, Hannah Davies, Robert Davies, Bob Deakin, Emma Douglas, Jo Dumpleton, Amy Dury, Jill Eastland, Laura Elkins, Paul Fenner, Fierce Fine Art, Craig Fisher, David Gardner, Zoe Gibson, James Gosling, Euan Gray, James Gregory, Bea Haines, David Haines, Habib Hajallie, Susie Hamilton, Ben Hancocks, Georgia Kitty Harris, Justin Harris, Lia Anna Hennig, Russell Herron, Denise Hickey, Roland Hicks, Harriet Mena Hill, Sandy Horsley, Yvonne Kay, Hannah Kokoschka, Jenny Laskowsky, Gary Lawrence, Cheryl Lewis, Esther Martínez Rey, Fiona Michie, Arianna Tinulla Milesi, Elizabeth Nast, Simon Nicholas, Sofia Nifora, Catherine O’Donnell, Patrick O’Rourke, Steve Payne, Freya Pocklington, Caroline Pool, Selina Pope, Alberto Repetti, Elwina Robinson, Xavier Robles de Medina, Gabriela Schutz, Mark Seely, Katy Shepherd, Mark Shields, Aleksandra Stepien, Natalia Stoyanova, Sam van Strien, Roma Tearne, Freya Thompson, Iva Troj, Rebecca West-Beale.
The 13 drawings shortlisted for the Working Drawing Award 2021 are by:
Zahra Akbari Baseri, Joshua Bristow, Marc Brousse, Ian Chamberlain, Sheila Gaffney, Christopher Green, Georgia Kitty Harris, Jessica Heywood, Julie Menelaou, Esha Mittal, Quy Phu Nguyen, Alejandro Pascual.
Gary Lawrence, Ye Olde Keyhole Surgery, 2020, Biro, acrylic on paper, 238 x 221cm, First Prize
David Haines, Dark Balloons, 2021, Graphite and Nero pencil on paper, 53 x 50cm
The five award winners, taking home £27,000 in prizes, are:
Gary Lawrence Ye Olde Keyhole Surgery, 2020, First Prize, worth £8,000.
David Haines, Dark Balloons, 2021, Second Prize, worth £5,000.
Gabriela Adach, El Duende, 2021, Student Award, worth £2,000.
Zahra Akbari Baseri, Sara, 2021, Working Drawing Award, worth £2,000.
Roland Hicks, Double Chip / Shuffle Zip, 2021, Evelyn Williams Drawing Award, worth £10,000.
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021 Awards Announcement, September 2021
Photos by Benjamin Jones
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize has an established reputation as the UK’s most important annual open exhibition of drawing. Led by its founding Director, Professor Anita Taylor, the exhibition is known for its promotion and celebration of excellence in contemporary drawing practice.
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize provides an important platform for drawing, and for artists, designers, and makers as a catalyst within their careers. The annual exhibitions are selected by a roster of passionate and distinguished drawing experts – artists, architects, curators, designers, writers, and collectors.
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize is supported by the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust, and 2021 marks the fourth year of their generous support for the annual open exhibition, which was founded in 1994.
The 2021 show will take place at Trinity Buoy Whard in a new event space within the historic Chainstore venue, set to open to the public for the first time.
– Ends –
For press enquiries, please contact Marine Costello at Parker Harris:
T: 020 3653 0891
For all other enquiries, please contact Parker Harris:
T: 020 3653 0896.
For updates on Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, please follow:
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize:
Twitter: @TBWDrawingPrize #TBWDP20
Website: trinitybuoywharfdrawingprize.drawingprojects.uk
Parker Harris:
Twitter: @parkerharrisco
Facebook: @parkerharrisco
Instagram: @parkerharrisco
Trinity Buoy Wharf:
Twitter: @ArtsTBW
Facebook: @TrinityBuoyWharf
Instagram: @trinitybuoywharf
Drawing Projects UK:
Twitter: @DrawingProjects
Instagram: @DrawingProjectsUK
Website: drawingprojects.uk
Notes to Editors:
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021 Shortlist, further information available on request.
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021 Selectors, further information available on request:
- Sheela Gowda, Artist, Bangalore
- Dr Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art, National Galleries Scotland
- Dr Zoé Whitley, Director of Chisenhale Gallery, London
- Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee
- Charles O. Job, Designer & Architect, Zurich
- Paul Finch, Programme Director, World Architecture Festival
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Project:
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize project is led by its founding Director, Professor Anita Taylor, artist, educator, curator, founder of Drawing Projects UK, and Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee since 2019. The Drawing Prize project was founded in 1994 as the Rexel Derwent Open Drawing Exhibition and known from 1996-2000 as the Cheltenham Open Drawing Exhibition. From 2001-2017 it was known as Jerwood Drawing Prize and supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation. Previous supporters have included Westland Nurseries, The Summerfield Charitable Trust, CHK Charities and Rootstein Hopkins Foundation. The Evelyn Williams Drawing Award is supported by the Evelyn Williams Trust, and awarded biennially, first in 2017, then 2019 and 2021.
trinitybuoywharfdrawingprize.drawingprojects.uk
Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust:
In 1998, London Docklands Development Corportion (LDDC) set up the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust with a 125-year lease to hold the land and their vision in trust for the people of London, while the freehold was passed to the LB Tower Hamlets. The Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust holds a 125-year lease from LB Tower Hamlets and Urban Space Management in turn has a 124 lease from the Trust. The terms provide for 25% of the Wharf’s income to be paid to the Trust to use for promoting arts activity in the area. To date the Trust has supported and funded a wide range of arts projects and organisations. The Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust became the principal supporter of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize in 2018.
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee:
The University of Dundee’s mission is to transform lives, working locally and globally, through the creation, sharing and application of knowledge. Founded in 1881, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) offers four-year Undergraduate programmes in Animation, Art & Philosophy, Digital Interaction Design, Graphic Design, Fine Art, Illustration, Interior & Environmental Design, Jewellery & Metal Design, Product Design, Textile Design and has an Art & Design Foundation programme. Taught Postgraduate Programmes include Animation & VFX, Art & Humanities, Art, Science & Visualisation, Comics & Graphic Novels, Design for Business, Design for Health, Fine Art, Forensic Art & Facial Imaging, Medical Art, Product Design. PhD students work alongside a distinguished team of staff delivering excellent and impactful teaching, research and public engagement. DJCAD was ranked Number 1 in Scotland (Number 9 in the UK) for Art and Design in the Complete University Guide 2021.
Drawing Projects UK:
Drawing Projects UK was founded by Professor Anita Taylor in 2009 to develop and promote research initiatives in drawing, including the Jerwood Drawing Prize project, and opened a Centre for Drawing and Contemporary Art in Trowbridge, the county town of Wiltshire with co-director, Gary Sangster, in 2015. Situated in a landmark building, Drawing Projects UK houses a gallery, project space, studios and workspaces, meeting rooms and café; and aims to promote and develop public engagement through drawing in local, regional, national and international contexts by delivering on-site and off-site projects. A second Drawing Projects UK Centre for Drawing and Contemporary Art & Design in the city of Dundee is in planning.
Evelyn Williams Trust:
Evelyn Williams (1929-2012) was a figurative artist whose intense and quietly authoritative paintings, sculptures, reliefs and drawings were produced over a period of seven decades. In 1993, she and her husband created a modestly endowed trust dedicated to promoting the cause of drawing, particularly in art schools. Drawing was largely out of favour at the time and the seven substantial art school fellowships that were funded by the Evelyn Williams Trust over the following eight years did much to re-appraise attitudes towards the practice. The Trust now has responsibility for the artist’s estate of extant works and her desired legacy of support to artists. To this end, the Trust is collaborating with the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Drawing Projects UK, and Hastings Contemporary to offer a biennial award to an artist creating the opportunity for them to make new work and show a resultant exhibition or equivalent presentation within the programme at Hastings Contemporary. The first Evelyn Williams Drawing Award was awarded to Barbara Walker MBE in 2017 in association with the then Jerwood Drawing Prize 2017, with the solo exhibition Vanishing Point being shown at Jerwood Gallery in Hastings in 2018/19. The 2019 Evelyn Williams Drawing Award winner was Penny McCarthy whose exhibition will take place at Hastings Contemporary in 2022. The third Evelyn Williams Drawing Award will be made in association with the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021. The Award has been selected by an Evelyn Williams Trustee, the Director of Hastings Contemporary, and the Director of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize and Drawing Projects UK.
Parker Harris:
Emma Parker and Penny Harris created Parker Harris in 1990. Their partnership is now one of the leading visual arts consultancies in the UK. A small dynamic team, they pride themselves in expert creation and project management of visual arts projects spanning all disciplines and all scales. Their clients range from trusts and foundations, SMEs and multinationals to charities, arts organisations and individual artists. Parker Harris is the Project Manager for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize.
Help keep news FREE for our readers
Supporting your local community newspaper/online news outlet is crucial now more than ever. If you believe in independent journalism, then consider making a valuable contribution by making a one-time or monthly donation. We operate in rural areas where providing unbiased news can be challenging. Read More About Supporting The West Wales Chronicle
