Philippa Radicke (age 9) and Sasha Kuczer (age 10) from Todmorden unveiled their LS Lowry-inspired masterpiece, which will be displayed in The Lowry’s galleries in Salford for one whole year.
LS Lowry was famously a solitary figure, painting alone in his bedroom and often from a somewhat detached vantage point to the figures in his busy industrial scenes.
Philippa and Sasha from Cornholme School in Todmorden, took a more collaborative approach when asked to create a piece of LS Lowry-inspired art during a school trip to The Lowry in Salford.
Their work, entitled Down the Alleyway, was entered into The Lowry’s annual Copley Prize – a competition for children of paintings or drawings inspired by Lowry’s work – and was judged the winner by Michael Simpson, Director of Visual Arts and Engagement at The Lowry and Alison Copley, who founded the competition with her husband, Noel.
Down the Alleyway was unveiled today, in a celebration ceremony attended by Philippa and Sasha’s proud parents and friends. Their work is now on display alongside Lowry ‘classics’ such as Man Lying on a Wall, Going to the Match and Coming from the Mill in The Lowry’s permanent LS Lowry exhibition (LS Lowry: The Art & The Artist) for one year.
Philippa and Sasha said; “We are really excited to see our work in The Lowry’s galleries for everyone to see. We decided to enter the Copley Prize together because we are in the same class at school and we are best friends. We have entered other art competitions together before and have won prizes. We won a prize for the piece we entered into a competition at the Todmorden Agricultural Show”.
The budding artists are not sure whether they will make their passion for art into a future career. Philippa said; “My mum is a photographer so she might pass that on to me.”
Michael Simpson, Director of Visual Art and Engagement at The Lowry, said;
“We have received many fantastic entries from children from all over the country, so we have had a hard time picking a winner, but Philippa’s and Sasha’s piece ‘Down the Alleyway’ really did stand out! The young artists used a number of different techniques and produced a picture full of atmosphere. The Lowry is delighted to be displaying their work in our galleries alongside our famous collection of Lowry’s paintings and drawings.”
Alison Copley said: “The competition was established to help coax-out the artistic talent in some of the gallery’s younger visitors. Philippa and Sasha have created a wonderful piece of art that really captures the essence of the typical Lowry scene and I’m delighted that visitors to the gallery will be able to enjoy it for a whole year.”
