Shortlist Announced for The Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award

After a record breaking 1,600+ entries, the shortlist has been announced for this year’s Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award 2023.

Entering into its fourth year, the awards – named the 2022 Best Arts & Culture Programme at the Corporate Engagement Awards – will see 10 shortlisted artists have the honour of exhibiting their work at the prestigious Saatchi Gallery in London on Thursday 9 November 2023, where the overall winner of the £10,000 cash prize will be announced at a VIP awards evening. The runner up will receive a cash prize of £5,000.

The award sets out to discover and champion exceptional emerging artists who are representative of contemporary Britain, and brings together three leading organisations – global recruitment consultancy Robert Walters Group, leading arts charity UK New Artists, and renowned contemporary art platform Saatchi Gallery – to help provide a career springboard for up-and-coming artists.

Within this year’s brief: ‘The Journey of Self Actualisation: Exploring the Illusion of Greener Grass and the Pursuit of the Dream’ judges asked artists to investigate the deceptions of ‘something better’ that can befall individuals as they impart on their journey towards the fulfilment of their own, unique potential and the attainment of their lifelong dreams.

Judges will include: Robert Walters – art enthusiast & Founder of Robert Walters Group; Michelle Bowen – Director of UK New Artists; Alex Zawadzki – Founder of the Second Act Gallery; Habib Hajallie – artist and winner of the 2022 UK New Artist of the Year awards; Harold Offeh – artist & educator; Paul Foster – Director of Saatchi Gallery; and Inger Margrethe Stoveland – Director of Fluks – Centre for Young Art.

The awards ceremony and finalist exhibition at Saatchi Gallery will be curated by Garth Gratrix – an international artist, curator, Clore Visual Arts Fellow, and studio director based in the northwest. Gratrix’s work often showcases cross-disciplinary practices in diverse and unique settings.

The 2023 finalists are: Damaris Athene (London), William Bacon (Oxford), Parham Ghalamdar (Manchester), Sofia Laskari (London), Kieran Leach (Manchester), Elena Njoabuzia Onwochei-Garcia (Glasgow/Macclesfield), Edward Rollitt (Winchester), Anna Tong (London), Pascal Ungerer (Cork, Ireland) and Kim Thompson (Nottingham).

Toby Fowlston, CEO of Robert Walters Group comments:
“We’re now in our fourth year running this award and each year brings with it a new set of fantastic artists and inspiring bodies of work – and this year’s shortlist has not disappointed.
“The ethos behind the awards is to provide opportunities for ambitious individuals to achieve their potential – a sentiment that is foundational to our business, so we are proud to be working alongside UK New Artists and Saatchi Gallery on this important initiative. We truly believe it will help launch the careers of the next generation of exceptional UK artists.”

Michelle Bowen, Director, UK New Artists adds:
”The Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award 2023 is a wonderful barometer of contemporary visual art being made across the UK today. I think this year our shortlisted artists all share a unique perspective on the world and their work is compelling, engaging and inspiring. UKNA is proud to be able to support talented new artists and watch as their careers grow and blossom”
For more information about the Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award click here.

Robert Walters Group UK New Artist of the Year Award 2023 Shortlist:
Damaris Athene (She/Her), based in London: The ‘Fruiting Bodies’ series explores what form future bodies could take.
William Bacon (He/Him), based in Oxford: The ‘Confetti’ installation – made from National Lottery scatch cards and shavings from scratch cards – showcases the remnants of gambling objects that have had very short lifespans.
Parham Ghalamdar: (He/Him), based in Manchester: ‘Tents: Metaphorical Portraits of Asylum Seekers’ – a series of paintings which explore displacement, asylum-seeking, and identity.
Sofia Laskari (She/Her), based in London: ‘Happy Birthday’ describes the state of physical and mental state of a person, that goes/went through a lot.
Kieran Leach: (He/him), based in Manchester: ‘Trivial pursuit’ explores paradoxical notions of growth, transitions and aspirations.
Elena Njoabuzia Onwochei-Garcia (She/Her), based in Glasgow (Macclesfield): ‘¡Silencio!’ explores how dynamics replicate themselves through generations and how the insularity of those relationships affirms and conditions their nature.
Edward Rollitt (He/Him), based in Winchester: ‘Lucei De Yavington’ depicts the artists relationship with home; uprooted, dishevelled and cluttered, romantic, beautiful and full of life.
Anna Tong: (She/Her), born in Manchester, currently based in London: ‘Dwelling’ explores the stories of residents of four apartments in a busy metropolis – their ambitions, realisations, mistakes.
Pascal Ungerer (He/Him), based in Dunlough, Ireland: ‘Speculative Artefacts’ focuses on the in-between spaces or edgelands that lie at the intersection of the urban and rural.
Kim Thompson (She/Her), based in Nottingham: ‘The Millers’ reflect the experience of many first generation Caribbeans, driven to carve out their dreams in a promised land that didn’t welcome them.