This year we have been overwhelmed by the number of phenomenal entries for the Bridgeman Studio Award competition 2016. From photography to painting and detailed illustrations, artists from all across the globe have used a wide variety of media to truly convey a ‘night’ to remember. We received nearly 1000 amazing entries and deciding a winner will definitely be a challenge!
Ahead of the final judging process, the Bridgeman Studio team discuss their highlights from the competition and some of the shortlisted artists:
| ‘We’ve run the competition for three years now, and have been lucky enough to partner with Creative Review each time. This year, we’ve partnered with The Borough Press, an imprint of Harper Collins to offer a £1000 book cover commission. I have so enjoyed the two months of this year’s competition. Seeing such talent entering the competition each day has been a truly creative inspiration.’ Lucy Innes Williams – Bridgeman Artists Manager |
| ‘I was overwhelmed by the response to the competition – We had over 900 entries in total! The number of entries, range of artistic styles and the world-wide reach of this year’s competition has been incredible. It was really tricky narrowing them down to a shortlist, but we managed to get it down to 80 wonderful entries from artists who took the competition brief and really ran with it, all creative guns blazing!’ Charlotte Proctor Smith – Bridgeman Studio Executive |
‘We enjoyed Esthera’s work a lot. The space surrounding the central motif, and the unsettling idea of a garden growing in one’s head is far-reaching and symbolic of night-time dreams.’
© Esthera Preda
‘A lush jungle image and an excellent study in camouflage and texture.’
© Ilaria Demonti
‘Mouni’s colour pallettes and joyful character work really drew us into her imagined, exciting-looking alternative universes!’
© Mouni Feddag
‘Like a modern-day Ophelia, this image is beautifully framed and delivers space for typography as well as an unusual pink.’
© Nicole Xu
‘Bright bolts of colours and a celebration of all-things pattern struck us as a book cover theme which would stand out a mile in any bookshop.’
© Sadhna Prasad
‘Blue on dark blue is a bold choice for an image- but the tonal contrast works perfectly alongside the motif of stars, employed as effective props within the design.’
© Bitra Masseva
‘Witty wins the day here. A cleverly interpreted series of work which distils the story into a single, instantly iconic image’.
© James Boswell
‘Noir motifs hint at a time and place for activities that should definitely only take place of night. We enjoyed the strong, Americana-pop images here.’
© Jennifer Dionisio
‘An excellent example of contemporary illustration, showcasing a great understanding of layout and texture in a digital format.’
© Robert Hunter
‘Thomas’ work offers a completely unique take on the theme. The restricted colour palette and repetitive mark-making work well here.’
© Thomas Allen
‘Strong printmaking gets our vote every day and provides a timeless style of artwork for such a variety of bookcovers.’
© Mary Kuper
‘Holly imbues great humour and wit into her depiction of these owls- with such a simple image, an awful lot is being said.’
© Holly Frean
‘ A rich image which commands attention both in terms of its busy patterns, but also because of its contemporary take on traditional folk art.’
© Aitch
‘This was one of the images we received that made us really smile. We loved the shapes, textures, the trees, but what we really loved was the wicked look of the robber in the night.’
© Stephanie Wunderlich
‘We liked the tension of this cropped image. Where is the person fleeing to? What’s just happened. A great suspended-action entry.’
© Jen Leem-Bruggen