The Jerwood Drawing Prize select their winners using an open process; the judges are not given any information about the name of the artist or the title of the piece when making their decisions. Works are judged instead purely on their merit as drawings (though the prize does allow for an experimental approach to the term drawing).
This year’s winners are all recent or soon-to-become students, though some have come to their education at a later stage of life. First Prize has been awarded to Tom Harrison (1982) for his soft, intricate depiction of Singapore from a bird’s-eye view. From Andrew’s Flat, Singapore explores the city’s ‘lush green jungle offset against the lines of the architecture. My initial pull for the drawing was seeing all of this from an elevated position; an abstract pattern of the buildings jostling for space with the jungle becoming even more apparent.’
Second Prize was awarded to Unconditional Line by Finnish artist Elisa Alaluusua (1970) — a video work, that nonetheless explores the nature of drawing. The 7-minute film is a video drawing, that depicts the take-off and landing of a plane. Speaking about the work, Alaluusua says; ‘This particular trip belongs to a continuum of invisible lines drawn between London and Luusua in Finnish Lapland. The lines on the ground speak their own foreign language of order and safety that should not be compromised.’
The two Student Awards have been given to Bryan Eccleshall (1965) and Lois Langmead (1992). Eccleshall recreates the works of other artists, gaining attention here for After Joseph Beuys’ ‘Wirtshaftswerte’. Langmead created a woven take on drawing, forming a woman’s reproductive system from delicate, fleshy threads. Pelvis she says, is ‘a contemporary reaction to the depiction of women’s bodies as ‘weak’ throughout historical medical texts. The pelvis is a symbol to remind us of the strength of women’s bodies.’
These works will be displayed at Jerwood Space until 25 October 2015
