The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020

I have posted before about the importance of what was formally the Jerwood and which is now the Trinity Buoy Wharf drawing prize. 2020 is the 25th consecutive annual holding of this prize and accompanying exhibition and to celebrate this, the call for entries is going international, and is now open for artists from the UK and around the world. There is another new addition: the Working Drawing Award, which focuses on the role of working drawings in art, architecture, design, engineering, manufacturing, science and if you are a regular reader of this blog you will be very aware of how I have attempted to open out the conceptual framework around which we can think about why drawing matters to include the work done in other disciplines. In particular it would be interesting to look at how even more disciplines could be included, such as police crime scene drawings or those done for archeological digs or circuit diagrams. 

The Trinity Buoy Wharf drawing prize has been led by its Director, Professor Anita Taylor, since its inception, and she is passionate about drawing in all its guises. She has helped raise the profile of what has sometimes been a forgotten art form, and she continues to work hard to communicate and support an understanding of drawing as a medium that is central to the way that humans communicate with each other. 

The entry date has been extended and it is now going to be the 9th of July. All the details for entry are on the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing prize website  and there are regional as well as London drop off and collection points. 

See also:

Thoughts on the 2014 Jerwood Drawing Prize

The initial hosting of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize

The Jerwood Drawing Prize 2014

The Jerwood Drawing Prize 2017

The Jerwood Drawing Prize

Gary Lawrence  2011

Svetlana Fialova 2013

I have been trying to encourage students to enter competitions lately and one of the most prestigious is the Jerwood Drawing Prize, which is coming up soon and registration for it is now open. 

The deadline is 28 Jun 2017, 17.00 and you can get details of how to submit here.

Karolina Glusiec 2012

The winner of the Jerwood Drawing prize can be very unpredictable, which is one of the most interesting things about it, so if you are worried that your work might not fit the criteria for selection, don't, just put something in and you might be surprised.  In 2014 Alison Carlier won with a sound piece and Karolina Glusiec won in 2012 with a hand drawn animation, see another of Karolina Glusiec's animations above. 

SKETCH 2017

Examples from 2013 exhibition

SKETCH 2017 is the fourth open sketchbook drawing prize of artists’ sketchbooks. The aim of the exhibition is to promote the diversity and importance of drawing and the role of the sketchbook in contemporary fine art practice. The sketchbooks are chosen for the exhibition through an open submission process by a panel of three selectors with subject expertise who represent the perspectives of writer, practitioner and curator.

SKETCH is not intended to be a survey of the sketchbook, but a to generate creative impetus and provide a forum for debate, viewing the sketchbook as a place for impossible experiments alongside the ordinary and the observed. Viewing the sketchbooks for this exhibition is a journey through the most intimate studio space of the artist.


Deadline for entry: Mon 27 Mar 2017 17:00 GMT


Click here to apply.

Drawing Competitions

Now is the time of year to be entering drawing competitions. Drawing, watercolour and print are all interrelated so don’t be put off applying for these too, just think of adding a small media shift, but do read the entry requirements carefully.

The Derwent Art Prize

June 1^st Deadline

The Derwent Art Prize aims to reward excellence by showcasing the very best artworks created in pencil by British and International artists.

Artists can submit 2D and 3D works created with any pencil or coloured pencil as well as water soluble, pastel, graphite or charcoal pencils.
An exhibition of the selected work will be on show at the Mall Galleries, London from 19-24 September 2016

The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition

Deadline 13^th June

Now in its 29th year, The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition is the largest and most prestigious watercolour competition in the UK. Hugely popular with artists, gallery visitors and readers of The Sunday Times, the competition aims to celebrate and reward excellence and originality in the medium of watercolour.

The International Print Biennale

Deadline 20^th June

The Biennale showcases the broad spectrum of contemporary printmaking across the globe, through an extensive programme of exhibitions, events, activities and an international symposium, held across the North East of England. It is the only event on this scale for printmaking in the UK, and since its inception has established itself as the key event for print in the international arts calendar. In 2014, the third edition of the Biennale’s Print Awards welcomed submissions from over 740 artists from 42 different countries.

Jerwood Drawing Prize

Deadline 27^th June

Selected from original art works, it has established a reputation for its commitment to championing excellence, and promoting and celebrating the breadth of contemporary drawing practice within the UK. By showcasing the work of emerging artists alongside established artists, the Jerwood Drawing Prize has contributed to the careers of numerous now well-known British artists since it was founded in 1994. An independent panel of three selectors will choose up to

The Jerwood Drawing Prize

The Jerwood Drawing Prize is coming to Leeds. This is a terrific resource for all of you interested in the state of contemporary drawing. It will be on at the Tetley from 16th January to 1st March 2015.

The Jerwood Drawing Prize is one of the most important events in the British drawing year. It’s open to all artists resident in the UK and has prizes for both students and professional artists. In particular it offers two student awards of £2,000 each. See

So it might be an idea to put work in for next year’s exhibition.

It’s also worth a look at some of the past exhibitors:

The Jerwood likes to stretch the definitions of drawing so you often get artists working on the edge of the discipline; for instance this work by James Eden & Olly Brooks.  ‘Burst’, is a film of graphite balloon bursts lasting 5mins and 15 secs. Balloons are filled with graphite dust and burst, the resulting film being submitted as a drawing.

James Eden & Olly Brooks: Burst

 

Gary Lawrence was a first prize winner with Homage to Anonymous in 2011. His large 4 foot by 6 foot drawing was packed with intense detail and all done in biro.

Gary Lawence: Homage to Anonymous

 

James Allen's drawings are direct observations of people and architecture and he uses the properties of charcoal to be rubbed out and reasserted to deal with a visual representation of time passing.

James Allen

The 2012 First Prize winner was a hand-drawn animation made by Karolina Glusiec. You can see a trailer for her animation here.

The point is that there is no house style or particular type of drawing that wins. The Jerwood supports the idea of drawing as a broad church. If you are going to put work in, the handing in for judgeing is usually at Wimbledon College of Art, so I'm afraid you would need to think about extra costs in terms of travel as well as presentation and fee. However to get selected is wonderful for your CV.