Meath finalist in Zurich young artists portrait prize
Portraits by talented artists from 10 Irish counties go on display in the National Gallery of Ireland on 5 October 2019. Artists from Galway; Dublin; Louth; Armagh; Wicklow; Laois and Kildare, along with two Irish artists based in France and the UK, have been shortlisted for the Gallery’s prestigious Zurich Portrait Prize 2019. A total of 26 artists working across a variety of creative disciplines have made it through to the final stage of the competition, which received over 300 entries. And for the first time, the work of 20 young artists, ages from three to seven years old, from Dublin, Meath, Cork, Kerry and Louth, have been shortlisted for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize.
Identity, family, memory, gender, aging, social change and diversity are among the themes addressed by the artists who have been shortlisted for the National Gallery of Ireland’s Zurich Portrait Prize 2019. The winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize will receive a prize of €15,000 and a commission worth €5,000 to create a new work for inclusion in the National Portrait Collection. There will also be two awards of €1,500 for highly commended works. An exhibition of the shortlisted works will open at the National Gallery of Ireland on 5th October. In a new partnership, the exhibition will run at Crawford Art Gallery from January to April 2020.
Judges for this year’s Zurich Portrait Prize are Mike Fitzpatrick, Dean of Limerick School of Art and Design; Professor Fiona Kearney, founding Director of the Glucksman; and Mick O'Dea, artist and member of the RHA.
Shortlisted artists for the Zurich Portrait Prize 2019 at the National Gallery of Ireland include:
Christopher Banahan (Galway), Self Portrait with eyes closed, acrylic on wood
Shane Berkery (Dublin), A Light, oil on canvas
Els Borghart (Louth), He is not here, oil on board
Enda Bowe (London, UK), Cybil McCaddy with Daughter Lulu, photograph – C-type print
Lisa Butterly & Lisa McCormack (Louth), The Day You Left, photograph
Comhghall Casey (Dublin), Self Portrait, oil on canvas
Joe Dunne (Dublin), And Their World of Far and Near Things, egg/oil tempera on canvas
David Hamilton (Armagh), Karen and Alan McStraw II, acrylic on canvas
Gordon Harris (Galway), Fragile, oil and silver leaf on board
Dragana Jurišić (Dublin), Paula Meehan, photograph
Lynn Kennedy (Dublin), I am Claudia, oil on linen
Miseon Lee (Dublin), Me in the Mirror III: Faux Hat, oil on linen
Salvatore of Lucan (Dublin), Lucy with 3 Hands and Me Holding onto her Leg, oil on canvas
Paul MacCormaic (Dublin), Tania Persechini Sewing, oil and acrylic on board
Ian Maher (Dublin), Self Portrait, plaster and acrylic on canvas
Fionn McCann (Dublin), Untitled T#1, photograph
Brian McCarthy (Dublin), Joe Duffy, oil on canvas
Oisín McFarland Smith (Wicklow), Granny Annie, photograph (Kodak Portra 400 taken on Bronica ETRS)
Tom Molloy (France), Paddy and me, photograph
Bríd Murphy (Laois), Blue I, II, III, 30-minute video triptych x 3 with sound
Liam Murphy (Dublin), Stephen, photograph
Liam Robinson (Dublin), Self-portrait as Ares, Greek God of War, coloured pencil, pencil, acrylic pen on card
Johnny Savage (Kildare), Mary Robinson, Dublin, photograph
Niamh Smith (Dublin), Institutions of Home, photograph
Marcel Vidal (Dublin), À la plage (Dad 1946 - 2018), oil on linen
Amy Walsh (Dublin), Mná na hÉireann, photographic print on photo rag
In 2019, the National Gallery of Ireland introduced a new competition, the Zurich Young Portrait Prize. Playing an important role in the Gallery’s continued aim to foster and support creativity, originality and self-expression in children and young people, the Prize accepted entries from young people up to age 18 of all abilities from across the island of Ireland. 20 finalists in four categories (ages 6 and under, ages 7-11, ages 12-15 and ages 16-18) chosen by a panel of external judges will be displayed at the Gallery from 5 October 2019. The overall winner will be awarded a personalised wooden box of high quality art materials specific to their choice of material in their portrait and a cash prize of €500.
The Zurich Young Portrait Prize judges are artist Hetty Lawlor; photographer and filmmaker Perry Ogden; and Brendan Rooney, Head Curator at the National Gallery of Ireland.
The shortlist for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize 2019 at the National Gallery of Ireland is:
Oisin Byrne (Dublin, aged 3), My brother Fionn, pencil on paper
Callie LePage (Dublin, aged 6), Sarah C, watercolour, pencil, marker, jewels, glue, electric lights on paper
Azalea Rahman (Dublin, aged 4), Feather Head, crayon and feathers on paper
Rita Ruitong Chen (Wicklow, aged 6), School Girl, pencil on paper
Christina Troup (Dublin, aged 6), The Moustache, pencil, colouring pencil on paper
Alice Ertmane (Dublin, aged 7), Flying Pancakes, thread and acrylic on canvas
Faye Hession Jordan (Dublin, aged 9), Max, My Brother, pencil, pastel, acrylic and water colour on canvas and paper
Zhen Xing (David) Ke (Meath, aged 10), My Beautiful Mum, marker on paper
Mischa May Pattwell (Cork, aged 10), My sister Eala, collage, crayon and chalk on paper
Jiaming Zheng (Dublin, aged 8), The GAP Boy, pencil on paper
Amy Brown (Dublin, aged 15), S.W.A.N., pencil and collage on paper
Mabel Forsyth & Mary O’Carroll (Dublin, aged 12), The new age, photography on paper
Ava Henson (Dublin, aged 14), Fiona: Renaissance Woman, acrylic on board
Erin Welch (Kerry, aged 15), Brennagh, watercolour and pencil on paper
Rachel Yuxuan Chen (Dublin, aged 15), Juvenile, oil on canvas
Molly Carroll (Dublin, aged 17), Seán, acrylic on paper
Martyna Glowicka (Dublin, aged 17), Kissmat, pencil on paper
Síobhra O’Reardon Farrell (Dublin, aged 17), Elodie, oil on canvas board
Mathews Pascoal De Leon (Dublin, aged 17), Bro Fred’s Portrait, graphite and pastel, pencil on paper
Cara Pilbeam (Louth, aged 17), Eire: Study of a Young Woman, pencil on paper
Sean Rainbird, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, said: “Through these competitions, the Gallery aims to foster an interest in contemporary portraiture amongst artists and art lovers alike. The exciting shortlists offer our visitors the chance to see incredible new work at the Gallery in the Autumn. We’re also delighted to develop our important partnership with Zurich this year as we celebrate the inaugural Zurich Young Portrait Prize.”
Neil Freshwater, CEO of Zurich, said, “Zurich is pleased at the high standard of the shortlisted works for the Zurich Portrait Prize 2019 at the National Gallery of Ireland. We really look forward to the shortlisted works being unveiled at the National Gallery in October before moving to the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork in 2020. Another first for this year is the inaugural Zurich Young Portrait Prize which brings a new dimension to our association with the Gallery. There is a freshness and vibrancy to these works which make us excited for the future talent which this competition is intended to foster.”