From refugee camps and mental health units to NPG Portrait Award nominees –The Cass Art Prize’s first ever shortlist offers a fascinating snapshot of contemporary British art’s diversity, resilience and impact.
The selected artists, from across the length and breadth of the UK and Republic of Ireland, will see their work exhibited in a prestigious November exhibition in London at Copeland Gallery, with the winners announced on 14 November. The People’s Choice Award winner, voted for by visitors, will follow on the 25 November.
The nominated artists, who cover an extraordinary range of disciplines and subjects, include:
Fresh from a nomination for the National Portrait Gallery’s Portrait Award 2024, Morag Caister makes The Cass Art Prize 2024 shortlist. After winning Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, making Forbes 30 under 30: Art & Culture, and the Evening Standard’s London Art Power List, in the space of just a few years Morag has become one of her generation’s most promising new artists.
When she was 16, Gabriella Kardos spent 8 months in a Vienna refugee camp. Kardos submits a self-portrait of her 16-year-old self in a Vienna amusement park, inspired by a photograph taken by her sister. Kardos migrated to the UK in 1993 and has since built a distinguished career as an artist, exhibited by the likes of the V&A.
Reuben Murray is a black working-class neuro-divergent artist from London, exploring themes of representation, race, and history through painting, drawing, photography, and collage. His work addresses ethical and social questions of humanity in the 21st century, offering a reflective space for people of colour. Inspired by Ben Enwonwu’s African ‘Mona Lisa,’ Murray’s submission reimagines portraits of extraordinary figures Ada and Mimiko, Jamaican Maroons with Yoruba names symbolising strength and heritage.
Meanwhile, Terence Wilde’s nomination tells a story of the incredible impact art can have in the everyday lives of communities across the UK.Terence retrained as an artist through Croydon voluntary mental health services. Terence still creates work in a hospital setting today, helping others to express themselves. Terence draws on his own mental health journey and experiences as an adult survivor in his all black and white works, exhibited at the likes of the Royal Academy.“Creativity sets me free from anxiety, trauma and obsession” says Terence. Fellow nominee Orlanda Broom shares this theme, previously painting site-specific work at a mental health unit in Kent for the charity Hospital Rooms.
Giuseppe Iozzi, a painter based in Brighton where he teaches art in a secondary school, explores the concept of time in his work. His paintings, created during evenings and weekends, reflect on the transient nature of a school environment, capturing empty spaces and ghostly traces of students. His practice, which includes a BA Fine Art from Leeds University, an MA Fine Art from UAL, and a PGCE from Brighton University, was recently enriched by completing the Turps correspondence course. Highlights from the Student Shortlist include British-German artist Lexia Hachtmann who has just completed her Masters at the Slade School of Fine Art.
Cass Art and the Cass family have been supporting artists for more than 120 years – from championing the works of Monet and Van Gogh in 1890s Europe to facilitating the first three commissions on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. The Cass Art Prize continues this pioneering spirit.
The shortlisted artists have been selected by an expert judging panel, from an Open Call earlier this year. They include Curtis Holder, a figurative British artist and previous winner of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, acclaimed painter and previous winner of the National Portrait Gallery’s BP Portrait Award Justin Mortimer, curator and judge on Sky Arts’ popular Artist of the Year series Kathleen Soriano, gallery owner Pippy Houldsworth, Partner at Carl Freedman Gallery and Counter Editions and TalkArt co-host Robert Diament, founder of Saatchi Art’s The Other Art Fair Ryan Stanier and highly acclaimed artist Sinta Tantra.
The first-prize winner will receive £10,000, and a stand at Saatchi Art’s The Other Art Fair. There is an additional prize pot worth £5,000 including a Student Award, an Art Educators Award, art supplies and more.
Mark Cass, CEO & Founder of Cass Art said, “Our mission from the start has been to fill every town with artists, from professionals to beginners, and The Cass Art Prize aims to spotlight and reward the massive array of talent that is out there. Our expert judges were tasked with the difficult task of selecting winners from a hugely diverse & incredible range of works submitted across a vast range of mediums, including drawing, painting & sculpture to mention but a few, and we can’t wait to showcase the wonderful work created by the Cass Art and SAA communities.”
The Cass Art Prize takes place on what would have been Wilfred Cass’s 100thbirthday and is generously supported by Wilfred’s estate. This family tradition of entrepreneurship and close relationships with the art world continued through the generations as Wilfred Cass, Mark’s father, later ran Reeves, the world’s oldest paint manufacturer. In addition, Wilfred launched the Cass Sculpture Foundation, a British charity that commissioned more than 450 sculptures from emerging artists over 25 years as well as enabling the first three commissions on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
The Cass Art Prize, 8-16 November, The Copeland Gallery, London SE15.
- Caroline Allen