An art exhibition celebrating Northern talent is set to open at Rheged in Penrith from Friday 15th March until Sunday 2nd June 2024.
The prestigious New Light Art Prize shines a light on Northern talent, rewarding the very best artists the region has to offer with grants, solo exhibitions and mentoring.
The exhibition features pieces from 121 artists who were shortlisted as the finalists in the competition, as well as the five winners who entered the competition, with incredible pieces that impressed the judges. All those who entered needed to have strong connections with the Northern region having studied in the area, brought up there or are living there now.
Rebekah Tadd, CEO at New Light Art says: “There’s never been enough focus on Northern artistic talent and we are thrilled to have the exhibition tour to the Gallery at Rheged for the first time, an amazing venue that celebrates affordable contemporary art. This exhibition is stronger than ever, the quality and diversity of art currently being produced in the North of England really deserves to be seen.”
Claire Logan-Stephens is Head of Programme Development at Rheged. She says: “We have a common desire with New Light to support the artistic community in the North by displaying their work beautifully, engaging visitors through the interpretation, including films of the artists at work and introducing artists to a new audience. Having seen the New Light Prize Exhibition at other venues, I have been very impressed by the quality of the artwork and we are thrilled to bring familiar artists – and new names, to Cumbria”
The exhibition is free to attend and will then move onto The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle (22nd June – mid September). It will include the following pieces of winning work:
- ‘Lockdown’ by Frances Bell – winner of The New Light Valeria Sykes Award and £10,000. Frances has lived in Wooler in Northumberland, not far from Newcastle, for the past 20 years. Born in 1983, after developing an early interest in drawing and painting, she pursued art and art history, making her way to Florence to pursue classical training at Charles H. Cecil Studios in 2001 for three years, where she taught sporadically for the further seven summers. Since completing her training, Frances has been a full-time professional portrait and landscape painter, exhibiting internationally and across the UK.
- ‘Bog Bumper Emerging from the Moss’ by Robert Cook – winner of the £2,500 New Light Patron’s Choice Award. Robert lives in Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire. After graduating in scientific illustration at Blackpool & The Fylde College, Robert worked as an illustrator before going into teaching, sharing his knowledge of drawing, painting and passion for nature as a lecturer in scientific illustration. Since leaving education, he has worked as a wildlife artist honing his craft.
- ‘During the Endless Night She Felt Herself Losing Her Mind’ by George Melling – winner of The New Light Emerging Artists Award sponsored by Saul Hay Gallery, where the winner has been awarded mentoring, professional advice and an exhibition at Saul Hay Gallery George is from Preston in Lancashire. After finishing his MA at Chelsea College of Art, George taught at Kingston University before moving back to Lancashire in 2000 where he set up his own painting practice. Working as a butcher two days a week to enable George to focus on his artwork for the rest of the week, his current body of work draws on images from photographs of family and friends from childhood, representing an interrogation of the past, what we inherit, what we cherish and what we discard.
‘Bewick’s Place’ by Neil Bousfield – winner of The New Light Printmakers’ Prize sponsored by Zillah Bell Gallery – where the winner will receive a solo or group exhibition at the Zillah Bell gallery in North Yorkshire, host to some of the UK’s very best printmakers’ shows. Neil was born in Middlesborough and grew up in the coastal village of Marske-by-the-Sea and Redcar in North Yorkshire. He studied at Cleveland College of Art & Design in Middlesborough and Teesside University, Middlesborough. He now lives on the North Norfolk coast. He works within the discipline of relief printmaking and contemporary wood engraving. ‘Bewick’s Place’ comprises 16 small square blocks to represent a grid or a plotting and mapping method, which have been engraved, cut and printed using the reduction method. Each block has been engraved in sections and printed as one.
- ‘The Art of Balance’ by Christine Stables – winner of The New Light Purchase Prize. Christine lives in Stockport in Cheshire. After working as a textile artist for many years, Christine became an abstract painter in 2019 so that she could mix and use her own colours to suit her work. She uses acrylic paint, glazes and inks, and in her winning piece ‘The Art of Balance’ she uses organic shapes, created with loose white lines, showing off the colour orange by using contrasts in textures, translucency, opacity and complimentary colour.
The New Light Prize Exhibition, established in 2010, has become one of the UK’s largest and most talked about open touring exhibitions and offers some of the region’s best awards and opportunities for aspiring and established artists.
The judging process began in May and included some of the UK’s best art experts including Olivia Heron, Curator of The Whitworth Gallery, Matthew Hall, Director of Panter and Hall, London, Nan Perell, New York Collector specialising in contemporary British paintings, Mark Demsteader, renowned figurative artist and Rebekah Tadd, CEO of New Light Art.
Frances Bell, winner of the New Light Valeria Sykes Prize says: “I feel so optimistic for the future of northern art in being part of this show. Such an ambitious exhibition, over so many wonderful venues, and months in which to tour the country, with such a rich crop of work to show alongside. There is great depth in the artistic community in the north and this show demonstrates so much of that. To have won the Valeria Sykes Award is beyond my wildest expectations, I’m really delighted. The painting was made at the tail end of the second lockdown, which so affected us all. My sitter is another Northumbrian and a great friend of mine. The atmosphere of that time comes through for me when I think about the painting, almost like a time capsule from the past.
“It feels balancing that a painting which stems from being compelled by circumstances to remain in one locality through a hard moment in our recent history, should be shown in an exhibition celebrating that same area, and those who live and create art there.”
Artists who were born, live or have studied in one of the historic counties of the North of England – Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Yorkshire and – for the first time – Cheshire, were invited to submit their work online via www.newlight-art.org. Entry into the competition was £20 for the first two pieces of artwork and £10 for any subsequent entries.
With Rheged as the exhibition’s Cumbrian host, there are a number of selected Cumbrian artists exhibiting, including past winner Alan Stones (Eden Valley) and Catherine Macdiarmid (Kendal), a professional artist and regular host of creative classes at Rheged. Catherine’s charcoal piece, Bruised, inspired by her mother’s fragility and sensitivity after a fall during Covid, was selected to feature in the New Light Exhibition. To compliment this, Catherine will run a new class teaching how to use charcoal to create figurative work.
Artist, Catherine Macdiarmid says: “As an artist based in the very north of the country, it can be a bit isolating and difficult, logistically and financially, to infiltrate an art world that can feel more south centric. The New Light Art exhibition shines a light on Northern based artists, and as such can give a much needed platform right here in the north. It has grown in stature and attracts the very best art the north has to offer. Being surrounded by, and on tour for over a year with such great art, is both an honour and humbling. I feel so proud to be a part of it once again”.
Matthew Hall, Director of Panter and Hall, member of the judging panel for the exhibition, comments: “I was very impressed by the increasingly high standard of work year on year. The New Light Prize has become one of the nation’s leading figurative painting forums, recognising the importance of technical capability in artistic practice. The strongest year yet for the New Light Prize.”
Past New Light shortlisted artists who have had huge success with exhibitions across the UK and further afield include Norman Ackroyd CBE RA, Anne Desmet RA, Maxwell Doig, Mark Demsteader, Christopher Cook, Mandy Payne, James Naughton and Jo Taylor.
Established in 2010, New Light is a charity that celebrates and promotes both well-known and emerging artists by offering some of the region’s best awards and opportunities. As well as the New Light Prize, it runs New Light Art for All, an education programme which includes talks, workshops and school projects. In 2021 it launched the New Light Collection which aims to make the best in Northern visual arts available to more people, by loaning pieces free of charge to public bodies and charities.
The common thread through everything New Light does is a deep belief that the visual arts matter and the north of England deserves to be celebrated. New Light is run by a dedicated group of people who are passionate about the visual arts in the north of England and relies entirely on donations and sponsorship.
Just off the M6 (J40) at Penrith, the gateway to the North Lakes, Rheged is a second generation family-owned business and a cultural centre with a Gallery, Café, Cinema, independent shops and meeting spaces. The exhibition will be open daily from 10am – 5pm at Rheged Redhills, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0DQ.
For more information visit www.newlight-art.org.uk
