PAUL FROM GOREY PICKS UP A TOP LONDON ART PRIZE
The Gorey artist Paul McCloskey has scooped second prize in the prestigious London Contemporary Art Prize.
Paul was presented with the ‘materials bursary award’ at the Store Street Gallery in London during a private viewing on Thursday, July 26.
The judging panel consisted of gallery directors Lawson Bell, Andrew Stark and Terry Watts from the Royal Society of British Artists.
Paul entered ‘ The London Contemporary Art Prize’ last November and was informed in December that he was one of thirteen finalists selected from entrants around the world.
‘ This year the standard was very high and it proved a challenging job for the jury as the talent poured in’, said gallery director Andrew Stark. ‘We had entries from many different countries, reaching every continent. With this came a huge variety of techniques, mediums and styles, which made judging extremely difficult. We were overwhelmed with the level of talent this year’, he said.
The work of the final 13 artists is being exhibited at Store Street Gallery in London until August 28 and shows a diverse mix of originality, skill and craftsmanship.
Paul attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and De Montfort University UK and was awarded a Master’s Degree in Fine art (MFA).
He has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally including the UK, London, Venice, Paris, Macedonia and New York.
He received the artists support award from Monaghan County Council in 2017 and was a 2016 Finalist in the EWAA – East, West Art Award (Japan – Worldwide) in London as well as being the 2016 recipient of a ‘special award’ by the international jury at the Osten Biennial of Drawing/Works on paper in Skopje, Macedonia where five of his works now form a permanent part of the ‘World Gallery Of Drawing Collection’ of the Museum of Drawing/Works on Paper.
Paul has been interviewed for and his work has been featured in many important visual art publications around the world.
His painting ‘Man and Poet’ was used for a new book of poems in which established and emerging poets respond to the works of Patrick Kavanagh.