Entries were received from all over the country for the 2013 Holt Festival Art Prize – and the winner is from Norwich!
At a ceremony just before the festival opened, renowned Norfolk based ‘pop’ artist Colin Self awarded former Norwich University of the Arts student Emily Cole the prize and its attendant cheque for £1,500. Her acrylic and oil on paper painting Drifter, is based on a photograph taken during a walk from Manningtree Train Station to Flatford Mill, through Constable Country.
Emily said she was ‘absolutely thrilled’ to win. “I only entered at the very last minute’ she said ‘a friend had mentioned the prize to me but it went clear out of my mind until she reminded me a few hours before the closing deadline. I think I probably got it in with a few minutes to spare!’
Holt Festival Fine Art curator, James Glennie of Art & Antiques Appraisals Ltd said ‘I am so happy for Emily and very pleased that the judges chose her work as the winner. She is a relatively new artist who is already being noticed and I hope that her deserved win will help her find wider attention. She is definitely an artist to watch out for in the future’.
The 2013 Holt Art Prize was judged by Internationally renowned ‘pop artist’ Colin Self, Amanda Geitner, Chief Curator at The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art and independent curator, writer and collector Ian Collins. In addition to the cash prize the winning entry will also be exhibited at the prestigious Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in the autumn.
Emily Cole was born in Suffolk but moved to Norwich when she was 4 years old, attending school in the city before studying at Cambridge University. She later enrolled on a BA Fine Art Painting degree at Norwich University of the Arts (NUA), winning the Vernon Crowther Painting Prize for her degree show and completed an MA in Fine Art in 2003. She went on to lecture at NUA and has exhibited internationally including shows in Brussels, Luxembourg and Tokyo. Living and working in Norwich her painting has been praised by novelist Raffaella Barker, writer Iain Sinclair and critic Martin Herbert.
The winning entry is being exhibited along with all shortlisted entries from 20-27 July at the Nicholson Gallery, Cairns Centre, Gresham’s School, Holt, NR25 6EA.
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