The Prize
The New Blood Art Emerging Art Prize launched in 2023 in collaboration with UK art colleges and universities across the UK.
The prize marks an exciting new evolution in curatorial technique, which invites greater input from tutors, heads of department, colleges and the commercial art fair. Deferring to the wisdom of those who know artists and their work the best, New Blood Art invites three nominations from each institution. A wealth of expertise goes into creating the list of nominees. New Blood Art celebrates the pivotal role of institutions and individual tutors in fostering exciting new talent. Artists often stay with the gallery as their career progresses, and you can find artists at a mid-career stage on the Art Masters section of the New Blood Art website.
History of New Blood Art
New Blood Art is a space for emerging artists, just out of university. A launchpad and incubator for outstanding emerging artists in their fledgling and early career stages. The gallery has been meeting with these artists and their collectors since 2004.
Founder Sarah trained in fine art and art education. New Blood Art curates like a physical gallery in an innovative online model to represent emerging artists. Things began simply, with conversations: with artists, art tutors and a web developer. Since then Sarah has visited degree shows up and down the country every year inviting artists to show with the gallery. New Blood Art’s inclusive focus on art schools and institutions across the UK has allowed for a unique representation of talent and promise.
Meeting with artists and tutors as they are presenting their final year shows – New Blood Art has kept to its core values, remaining focused on the qualities of the work the artists are making and the promise they hold as their practice develops.
The New Blood Emerging Art Prize builds on these principles to support artists transitioning out of art school by making gallery representation more accessible. The gallery’s reputation for launching the careers of fledgling artists in their early stages has grown significantly over the past 20 years, with the annual introduction of new artists to the collector base and attention from various national publications.
New Blood Art partnered with StART art fair for the 2023 Prize
New Blood Art partnered with StART art fair over Frieze week, 11 – 15th October 2023 to present the inaugural New Blood Art Emerging Art Prize at Saatchi Gallery London. We are very grateful to StART and Founders David and Serenella Ciclitira for their support and for their work to date supporting emerging arts inaugurating numerous emerging and graduate art prizes, their support meant that these outstanding fledgling emerging artists, hand-picked by tutors across the UK gained fabulous exposure at the fair in 2023.
New Blood Art Emerging Art Prize Selected Artists:
37 emerging artists from over 100 nominees were selected from art institutions across the UK to show at Saatchi Gallery.
Sophie Rice
Jasmine Blakeway
John Sillince
Poppy Critchlow
Estelle Simpson
Lizzie Henson
Liv Fox
Emily Maguire
Stella Zozi
Joana Simaes
Edward Jones
Nancy Martin
Jai James
The Judges:
Anita Taylor joined Serenella Ciclitira and Sarah Ryan in judging the 2023 prize. Anita Taylor is an artist, Professor, and Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at the University of Dundee. She is the founding Director of the foremost annual drawing exhibition in the UK, the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize [since 1994], and Drawing Projects UK, a public-facing initiative dedicated to drawing [since 2009]. After graduating from MA Painting at the Royal College of Art [1987], she became Artist-in-Residence at Durham Cathedral [1987-88], then Cheltenham Fellow in Painting [1988-89] and has shown her work extensively in the UK and internationally.
The winner will receive a solo show in 2024, and one-to-one mentoring throughout the year with Sarah.
New Blood Art Emerging Art Prize Winner 2023
Read more here
Images from the show:
