We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2019 Nigel Greenwood Art Prize is Harold Offeh.

Overall judges’ comment:
‘The isolated surroundings of Longformacus offer artists a rural respite and also a particular and unique environment to engage with. The judges were especially excited by Harold Offeh’s thoughtful response to this bucolic setting and his desire to grapple with its cultural and historical connotations. As he states, Offeh’s most recent body of work has been devoted to exploring the presentation of black bodies in the landscape, using popular culture as source material and challenging traditional assumptions around race and class. Offeh aims to use this sustained time in the Scottish Borders to build on and to extend these investigations. “Moving away from given stereotypes of the labouring or victimised body, the project will explore leisure, play and connections to the physical environment … I want to locate black figures in the rural British landscape as a means to create alternative narratives of national identity,” he says. By immersing himself in these hitherto unfamiliar surroundings, Offeh plans to research and develop a site-based lexicon of actions, poses, gestures, costumes and recorded sound.
We are very intrigued to see how, as he states, these interactions will then form the catalyst for a new film and/or performance work. Congratulations to all the artists: the short list was of an exceptionally high standard and we reached our decision after much spirited discussion.’

Judge Sally Shaw, Director of Firstsite:
‘Harold Offeh is an exceptional artist who manages to combine politics, place and pathos with incredible dexterity.
Deceptively simple his works take a direct approach to depicting blackness, black people and black culture in a prominent light to address historical imbalances of representation especially in popular culture.
The humour in Harold’s work is the thing that always gets me. A good joke is an incredibly elegant and generous piece of communication. Harold knows how to pull on all my preconceptions and projections to create an uncomfortable yet not unfriendly battle amongst my various conflicting and probably inappropriate thoughts that collide when viewing his work.
The thought of Harold in the Scottish borders brings all sorts of visions to mind, which of course, I’m sure Harold is pre-empting. His proposal fills me with excitement about a new body of work that will no doubt bring a very fresh perspective to this extraordinary environment that I can only see through a special and very outdated #braveheart filter. I particularly love his idea of reinterpreting Simon Schama’s Landscape and Memory as part of an index of gestures and poses for a new national identity.
I wholeheartedly support Harold’s selection for the Nigel Greenwood prize and can’t wait to hear about his experiences in Scotland.’

A huge thank you to our brilliant judges for their passionate debate and generous gift of their intellect and time:

Sally Shaw, Director of Firstsite Gallery
Louisa Buck, writer
Hana Noorali, curator
Lynton Talbot, curator
Rebecca Heald, curator

Thank you to our wonderful nominators:

Giles Round, artist, nominated Patrick Staff
Tai Shani, artist, nominated Florence Peake
Richard Parry, curator and director of Glasgow International, nominated Georgina Starr
Jes Fernie, curator, nominated Harold Offeh

And finally congratulations to all four nominated artists.

Nigel Greenwood Prize 2019

We are thrilled to announce that the nominated artists for this year’s prize are:

Harold Offeh

Florence Peake

Patrick Staff

Georgina Starr

It is a phenomenal short-list. We are really honoured. Congratulations to each artist. And thank you to our nominators.

Thank you to Hannah Rickards for these images and the lovely note,

‘… settling in very well here – it is very, very peaceful. Beautiful weather today, I have been sitting on the steps of the studio watching the crows wheel around.’

We were really pleased to recently host Paloma Bosquê, winner of the 2017 NG Art prize. Born in Brazil, she lives and works in Sao Paulo and the residency was her first time in Scotland. Paloma was awarded the prize for her wish to ‘contaminate’ her sculptures with the materials of the Scottish Borders. Paloma kindly shared with us some images of work made during the residency.

The Nigel Greenwood Prize is delighted to announce that Hannah Rickards and Ima-Abasi Okon have been awarded this year’s Nigel Greenwood artist residencies.

Hannah Rickards receives the Nigel Greenwood Art Prize (3 months/£5000) and Ima-Abasi Okon received the Nigel Greenwood Research Prize (1 month/£1000).

Judges’ statement:

‘The residency is set in such bucolic surroundings that it naturally lends itself to artists interested in the landscape. The history of the landscape has traditionally been a pictorial one however, so what excites us about inviting Hannah Rickards and Ima-Abasi Okon receiving, respectively, the Nigel Greenwood Art Prize and the Nigel Greenwood Research Prize, is that both artists expressed an interest in aural or sonic space, as much as the visual.

We are delighted to select Hannah Rickards as her work, as stated by the artist, is involved with the possibility of thinking oneself into a landscape. In her proposal she put forward some really beautiful ideas in terms of how the experience of being at Gordon Burns’ cottage for a long period of time might influence/translate to language, sound and gesture in her artworks.

And we are delighted to support Ima-Abasi Okon. Spending time at Gordon Burns’ cottage will give her an opportunity to quietly focus on her work as she is approaching the beginnings of a new body of work. In her statement she talked about ‘exploring ways to maximise magic as both an aesthetic and a sculptural act’ and we are really intrigued to see how the context of this residency might influence this research process.’

The judges’ were greatly impressed by the calibre and diversity of the short-list and congratulations goes to all of the nominated artists.

A huge thank you to our brilliant judges and nominators for their time and invaluable support:

Judges 2018:

Oliver Basciano, International Editor, Art Review
Stella Bottai, Curator, Stanley Picker Gallery
Simon Groom, Director, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Sam McEwan, Artist
Stephanie Straine, Curator, Modern Art Oxford

Nominators 2018:

Hana Noorali and Lynton Talbot, Curators, nominated Mark Barker
Louisa Buck, writer and journalist at The Art Newspaper, Alex McNamee
Rebecca Heald, Curator, nominated Freya Douglas-Morris
Sarah McCrory, Director of Goldsmiths CCA, nominated Ima-Abasi Okon
Sally Shaw, Director of Firstsite, nominated Hannah Rickards

There will be a prize event in June, details to follow ….

Ben Rivers

Ben Rivers, There is a Happy Land Further Away, 2015, digital video, 20 mins

The EYE Art & Film Prize: Hito Steyerl – Ben Rivers – Wang Bing
EYE Film Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
24 March – 27 May 2018

Maeve Brennan

Brennan’s new film Listening in the Dark opens at Jerwood Space, London SE1, on Thursday 5th April, 6.30-8.30pm. Screening as part of Jerwood/FVU Awards 2018: Unintended Consequences.

Maeve Brennan, Listening in the Dark, 2018

We are hugely excited that it is that time where we can announce the nominees and judges for this year’s Nigel Greenwood Art Prize.

The nominees for the Nigel Greenwood Art Prize 2018 are:

Ima-Abasi Okon
Mark Barker
Alex McNamee
Freya Douglas-Morris
Hannah Rickards

Ima-Abasi Okon

UNTITLED: Art on the Conditions of Our Time
New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK

Put Something in the Air: The E-s-s-e-n-t-i-a-l Mahalia Jackson Blowing Up
DJ Pollie Pop’s Chopped and Screwed Rendition of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries — Military-Entertainment Complex Dub [Jericho Speak Life!], 2017 

Polished brass, acoustic sound underlay, artists’ jewellery, OSB, tulip, red mahogany polyurethane varnish

Mark Barker

Installation view, Southard Reid, 2015

Freya Douglas-Morris

Chorus of One, oil on linen over board, 2017

Alex McNamee

Fake Ham in a Fake Rock,HDTV, cement and foam, 2017

Hannah Rickards

Installation view Modern Art Oxford, 2014

The judges for the Nigel Greenwood Art Prize 2018 are:

Oliver Basciano, International Editor, Art Review
Stella Bottai, Curator, Stanley Picker Gallery
Simon Groom, Director, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Sam McEwan, Artist
Stephanie Straine, Curator, Modern Art Oxford

A huge thank you to our anonymous nominators (to be revealed after the announcement of the prize).

And an eternally heartfelt thank you to our funders who make the residency awards possible.

The winner will be announced on Monday March 26th.

Past awardees and nominees news:

Congratulations to Maeve Brennan whose The Drift has been nominated for the Tiger Shorts Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam

Rafal Zajko is very busy. On now is ….

Acts of Translation (curated by Eliel Jones)
March 7–May 15, 2018
Etel Adnan, Alex Baczynski-Jenkins, Beverly Buchanan, John Divola, Lubaina Himid, Hassan Khan, Jumana Manna, Helen Marten, Sliman Mansour, Alice Neel, Lydia Ourahmane, Walid Raad, Malick Sidibé, Mounira Al Solh, Kenneth Tam, Wolfgang Tillmans, Sharif Waked, Rafal Zajko

Upcoming are shows in Prague, Berlin, London and:

UNPUTDOWNABLE
A solo exhibition at The White Cubicle Toilet Gallery.
Thursday March 15th 9pm – 3am at the Queen Adelaide, 483 Hackney Road, London, E2 9ED
with Entertainment from F.L.E.U.R. / Lindsey Mendick Aka Rick Steinz / Sponge Bob no pants/ Lea Collet and Marios Stamatis / Biggie and Babe / Zoee and the Special Guest Ally of Ally Capellino

Ben Rivers in conversation as part of the Open City Documentary Festival
September 10th, 3pm

‘The relationships between sound, music and image define the meaning and message of any film, be it documentary or fiction. But while the picture is carefully considered in the shoot and edit, sound – and later, music – is often left to fend for itself.

Using The Sky Trembles and the Earth is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers as a case study, Larry Sider from the School of Sound hosts a conversation between director Ben Rivers and sound designer Philippe Ciompi, who will explain their working relationship and the methods they used to effectively integrate image, sound and music.’

Presented in partnership with The School of Sound
SOUND // MUSIC // IMAGE WITH BEN RIVERS AND PHILIPPE CIOMPI
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2017 – 15:00
FESTIVAL HUB: BARGEHOUSE
£5

Agnes Scherer’s absolutely wonderful and UNMISSABLE Cupid and the Animals is being performed at the Ludwig Museum in Cologne on Sept 7. If you are anywhere near, GO!

Cupid and the Animals … on the Rhine

Donnerstag/Thursday
7. September 2017, 20h
Museum Ludwig Köln

Eine Oper von/An opera by
Agnes Scherer

Mit Musik von/With music by
Camillo Grewe

mit/with

Soya Arakawa
Francisco Aguilera Càceres
José Antonio Aguilera Càceres
Lukas Goersmeyer
Fabienne Kirschke
Katrin Sons
Michael Taylor

und/and

Edmée Brell
Tom Hardwick-Allan
Kurt Heuvens
Lotte Maiwald
Maya Shirakawa

Thank you to Charles Saumarez Smith for a kind mention in his excellent blog of the exhibition booklet produced for the recent Nigel Greenwood Inc Ltd show at Chelsea Space. Relieved that Mr Smith found the booklet not ‘dross’ but a ‘nice surprise’.

“Nigel represented an era when gallery owners were able to be more interested in the art than the money.   In an interview, he claims that the contemporary art world consisted of 150 people ‘in the whole enterprise worldwide’”.

Thank you Art Review

Paloma Bosquê has been announced as the winner of the 2017 Nigel Greenwood Art Prize. The São Paulo-based Brazilian artist will undertake a three month residency at a cottage and studio in the Scottish Borders, and will receive an honorarium of £5,000.

Bosquê was chosen by a four-person jury from a shortlist which included Glasgow-based Rachel Adams, Chester-based Jacqueline Bebb, Vilnius-based Augustas Serapinas and Edinburgh-based Hannah Tuulikki. The 2017 jury included Helen Legg, director of Spike Island, Bristol; curator Tamsin Dillon; artist Yuko Shiraishi; and Nicola Lees, director of 80WSE Gallery, New York. Each artist was nominated by a selector whom remained anonymous during the judging process. Bosquê was put forward by ArtReview‘s international editor, Oliver Basciano.

Bosquê currently has a solo show at the Pavilhão Preto at Palácio Pimenta, Lisbon, and is included in the Coimbra Biennial this coming November. The prize is named in memory of the late gallerist Nigel Greenwood, often cited as a key figures in the development of the London art scene, and is coordinated by his estate. Previous winners include Ben Rivers and Katie Schwab.

Congratulations to the winner of the Nigel Greenwood Art Prize 2017:

Paloma Bosquê

  Bed

 Confidants

 Inverso Duplo

Paloma Bosquê was born in Brazil and lives and works in Sao Paulo. The judges were impressed by her ‘elegant, poetic and romantic’ work and intrigued by her wish to ‘contaminate’ her sculptures, deeply informed by her Sao Paulo context, with the materials of the borders.

And congratulations to Jacqueline Bebb who was awarded the Nigel Greenwood Research Prize.

Thank you to our wonderful judges:

Helen Legg, Director of Spike Island

Tamsin Dillon, Curator

Yuko Shiraishi, Artist

Nicola Lees, Director 80 WSE

And thank you to our nominators (each year we invite five people from across the art world to anonymously put forward an artist, the names are announced only once the winner has been selected):

Simon Groom, Director, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
nominated Hannah Tuulikki

Oliver Basciano, Editor (International) and writer, Art Review
nominated Paloma Bosquê 

Stephanie Straine, Curator, Museum of Modern Art Oxford
nominated Rachel Adams

Joe Fletcher Orr, Artist and founder of Cactus Gallery
nominated Jacqueline Bebb

Stella Bottai, Curator, Stanley Picker Gallery
nominated Augustas Serapinas

We are thrilled to announce the short-list for the Nigel Greenwood Art Prize 2017

Rachel Adams
b.1985, Newcastle, lives and works in Glasgow

Jacqueline Bebb
b.1977 in Chester. Lives and works in Chester, UK, and Portland, US

Paloma Bosque
Lives and works in Sao Paulo

Augustas Serapinas
b.1990 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Lives and works in Vilnius

Hannah Tuulikki
b.1982. Lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland

Nomination process. Each year 5 anonymous nominators, drawn from across the art world (not including commercial galleries), are invited to put forward an artist. The nominators are announced once the winner is selected.

We are hugely honoured to announce that the judges for the Nigel Greenwood Art Prize 2017 are:

Helen Legg, Director of Spike Island, Bristol

Tamsin Dillon, independent curator

Yuko Shiraishi, artist

Nicola Lees, Director 80WSE Gallery

Matthew Higgs, Curator and Director White Columns

The Drift

Maeve Brennan’s new film The Drift will be showing at Chisenhale Gallery March 31st to June 4th.

Opening March 30th, 6.30-8.30pm.

Full details here.

Congratulations to Agnes Scherer and the unbelievably talented team involved in Cupid and the Animals, particular mention to Tramps who staged the two deservedly sold-out events.

Unique, beautiful, funny, strange, whimsical, moving and utterly brilliant. The NG Prize are so honoured to have supported it and look forward to future presentations.

Truly wonderful.

Cupid and the Animals
An operetta by Agnes Scherer
Music by Camillo Drewe and performing artists

The night of Friday January 27 2017
The afternoon of Saturday January 28 2017

TRAMPS offsite
Unit 9I
133 Copeland Rd
London SE15 3SN

Camden Arts Centre, London

Wednesday 14 December, 7.00 – 8.45pm

To launch his first monograph Ways of Worldmaking, artist Ben Rivers and design and art collective åbäke discuss the book with Sophie Williamson, Programme Curator: Exhibitions at Camden Arts Centre. This book has been made in conjunction with Rivers’ recent exhibition at Camden Arts Centre, Earth Needs More Magicians with new essays by writers Ed Halter, Melissa Gronland, Renee Gladman and Andréa Picard, alongside transcripts and research material. This talk will be followed by a book signing.

Talk: 7.00 – 7.30pm
Book launch: 7.30 – 8.45pm

The Nile Set

A new body of work made by Agnes Scherer, in collaboration with Paul DD Smith, curated by Real Positive at COFA Contemporary, opening 16.11.2016 / 12h until 20.11.2016.