Judging any competition where creativity is at this level is always a challenge. But it is a wonderful challenge that all the judges of the Bridgeman Studio Award 2018 relished through scintillating conversation and debate.
Now in its fifth year, the Bridgeman Studio Award 2018 attracted entries from every corner of the globe in almost every medium. Focusing primarily on artists, illustrators and fine art photographers the competition continuously attracts up and coming talent that always exceeds our expectations.
BSA2018 Judges: From Right to Left: Gavin Turk, Will Ramsey, Victoria Bridgeman & Aretha Campbell.
Choosing a winner was always going to be challenging, but this year the stakes were higher than ever. For over a year the Bridgeman team worked with the partners of this year’s competition, The Affordable Art Fair in New York and London, to develop a prize package that surpassed the previous four years.
Will Ramsey and Gavin Turk deep in discussion during the BSA2018 judging process.
As we mentioned, the level of creativity for this years Bridgeman Studio Award was exceptional, and we would like to thank every single entrant for making this year’s competition a truly magical experience. We really wish we could award all of you with a winning trophy. Fortunately this year we had three ways any entering artist could potentially win.
I think this is what you call a unanimous agreement
The Main Prize – A prize worth £5,500*
The main prize consists of the winning artist’s work being displayed at the New York and London Affordable Art Fairs in March 2019, as well as a commission to create a tote bag worth £1,500*. The tote bag will be sold at various Affordable Art Fairs around the world, and a percentage of the proceeds will go to charities. These charities supported by the Affordable Art Fair all focus on Art Therapy and are different in every country, so the potential to help many people around the world with this commission is something to be truly proud of for the winning artist. Also, the winning artist will win a one-year free subscription to Bridgeman Studio, the contemporary platform for emerging artists to license their work through a variety of industries all over the world.
The People’s Choice
10 shortlisted artists had their entries displayed at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park London (UK) in October, where 22,000 visitors viewed and voted on one winner for the the Peoples Choice Award. The winner will receive a goodie bag from Bridgeman Images along with a £150 gift Voucher from Cass Art plus a one-year free subscription on Bridgeman Studio.
The People’s Choice display at the Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Park, London, UK.
The Great Women Artist by Katy Hessel
Katy Hessel has created an Instagram following of art lovers where she focuses on great women artists throughout history. Always insightful and visually stunning, Katy has a keen eye for art. So it was a real pleasure to work with Katy in creating a special award for this year’s Bridgeman Studio Award, called the Great Women Artist by Katy Hessel.
The winner of the Great Women Artist will receive a VIP Art Fair Pass, National Art Fund Pass & £150 Cass Art Voucher, sponsored by the Artists’ Collecting Society. Also, the winning artist will win a one-year free subscription on Bridgeman Studio, the contemporary platform for emerging artists to license through a variety of industries all over the world.
Due to the overwhelming quality and number of entries, we also have a number of runners-up chosen by the individual judges and sponsors.
We would like to thank all the judges for their time and insight during such a high-quality judging process:
The judges:
Will Ramsey – Founder & CEO, The Affordable Art Fair
Gavin Turk – Artist
Victoria Bridgeman – CEO, Bridgeman Images
Aretha Campbell – Artists Manager, Bridgeman Images
WINNER – GRAND PRIZE: IMOGEN FORTE
Imogen’s work will be displayed at the New York and London Affordable Art Fairs in March 2019, worth £4,000* as well as a commission to create a tote bag worth £1,500*.
Grand Prize Winner – Imogen Forte
WINNER – THE PEOPLES CHOICE: BARBARA NATI
Barbara Nati was voted the winner out of 22,000 visitors at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park London, UK. Barbara will receive a £150 gift voucher from Cass Art as well as a goodie bag from Bridgeman Images.
Peoples Choice Winner – Barbara Nati
The other 9 shortlisted artists were: Dariya Hlazatova, Nancy Kouta, Christoph Rode, Dragomir Misina, Gülçin Karaca, Guido Zimmerman, Hemery, Marco Campori & Rene Gonzalez.
WINNER – THE GREAT WOMEN ARTIST by Katy Hessel: ANNIKA FRIEDRICH
“I am so excited to award the first Great Women Artist x Bridgeman Studio Award to Annika Friedrich for her meticulously crafted drawings of figures sitting in a solitary, interior setting, with a flat, distorted perspective that breaks apart from outsider world from the subject’s internal space – and therefore internal mind.” – Katy Hessel
Follow the Great Women Artist by Katy Hessel on Instagram
Annika wins a VIP Art Fair Pass, National Art Fund Pass, and £150 Cass Art Vouchers courtesy of the Artists’ Collecting Society.
Great Women Artist by Katy Hessel – Annika Friedrich
RUNNER UPS:
All Runners-up will receive a goodie bag from Bridgeman Images and a one-year free subscription to Bridgeman Studio where their work has the opportunity of being licensed around the world across a variety of industries that Bridgeman work with every day:
GAVIN TURK: CHERIE GRIST RENSHAW
Gavin Turk Runner-Up – Cherie Grist Renshaw
CASS ART: CHRISTOPH RODE
Cass Art Runner-Up – Christoph Rode
ARTISTS’ COLLECTING SOCIETY: ADAM WAYMOUTH & MARCO CAMPORI
Artists’ Collecting Society Runner-Up – Adam Waymouth
Artists’ Collecting Society Runner-up – Marco Campori
BRIDGEMAN IMAGES: DEBRA SZPILMAN & SUSAN ALWORTH
Bridgeman Images Runner-up – Debra Szpilman
Bridgeman Images Runner-up – Susan Aldworth
Thank you all again for participating in the Bridgeman Studio Award 2018, please note that we are already working on our next competition so please keep an eye on the Bridgeman Images website and the EnterBSA.com website for more details.
Thank you To the Affordable Art Fair and our sponsors
Also, we would like to offer a huge thank you to the Affordable Art Fair London and New York together with all the amazing sponsors for their support in making the Bridgeman Studio Award 2018 such a huge success.
* Prizes are calculated in pound sterling but will be converted based on current exchange rates in the winning artists country of residence where applicable.