The Biscuit Factory art gallery in Newcastle is spotlighting emerging talent with its new Open Contemporary Young Artist Award exhibition, which opens next weekend.
The new show, hosted in association with the gallery’s charitable arm, The Biscuit Factory Foundation, features the work of 27 UK-based artists aged 35 and under, shortlisted from more than 600 entries.
The overall winner, judged by the gallery’s in-house curatorial team, will receive a cash prize of £1000 plus the opportunity for a solo show at The Biscuit Factory. The public can also vote for their People’s Choice Winner, who will be awarded £250.
The exhibition launches on Friday 19 May and forms part of the gallery’s eclectic sound and vision themed line-up for The Late Shows – the city’s free annual late night culture crawl around Newcastle and Gateshead.
All of the artwork in the exhibition will be available to buy, with 10 per cent of proceeds going back to The Biscuit Factory Foundation to contribute towards the facilitation of future projects in the region.
Rachel Brown, General Manager of The Biscuit Factory says: “Following the success of our inaugural portrait award, we decided to focus on young artists this year. We were overwhelmed by the number of entries, spanning such a variety of styles and mediums, and hope that our exhibition will provide the shortlisted entrants with an unrivalled platform to showcase their work and raise their profile. We’ll be revealing both winners at the end of July and can’t wait to see how the public will vote!”
The Open Contemporary Young Artist Award exhibition opens on Friday 19 May and runs until 20 August 2017. For more information on the shortlist, please visit https://www.artsy.net/show/the-biscuit-factory-open-contemporary-young-artist-award.