Platform Graduate Award 2019 – announcing the selected artists

CVAN South East is pleased to announce the selection for the Platform Graduate Award 2019. Twenty-three graduates have been chosen from across fourteen universities, representing some of the finest emerging visual artists in the South East region. Between September 2019 and January 2020, the graduates’ degree show work will be exhibited in the four partner galleries – Aspex in Portsmouth, MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, Modern Art Oxford and Turner Contemporary in Margate. An artist from each gallery is nominated for the award, with the winning artist, who will receive a bursary of £2,000 and bespoke mentoring, to be announced on 23 November by guest selector and artist Mikhail Karikis.

The selected artists are:

At Aspex in Portsmouth – Jade Anthony & Sofia Popova (Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton), Jaz Bartlett (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Farnham), Sasha Damjanovic (University of Portsmouth), Gwen Datyner (Southampton Solent University), Tobias Gumbrill (Arts University Bournemouth), Rebecca Harte (University of Chichester), Connie London (University of Chichester), Imogen Marooney (Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton), Mathew Scott (Southampton Solent University), Katherine Smith (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Farnham), Oliver Whitehead (University of Portsmouth), and Jack Woolston (Arts University Bournemouth).

At MK Gallery, Milton Keynes – Natalie Andrews (University of Bedfordshire), Lana Fotheringham (University of Hertfordshire) and Jan Harrington (University of Northampton).

At Modern Art Oxford – Kulsuma Monica Khatoon (Oxford Brookes University), Amy Richardson (University of Reading), and Grace Robertson (Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford).

At Turner Contemporary, Margate – Jordan Colbert (University of Kent), Sian Hookins (University of Kent), Sara Jackson (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Canterbury), and Wren Moat (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Canterbury).

You can read their artist statements and see thumbnails of their work if you click here.

Jo Bushnell, Director, Aspex, and Deputy Chair, CVAN South East said:

The Platform Graduate Award has grown to be a vital showcase and professional development opportunity for emerging artists in the South East. Aspex is proud to work with our partners to continue the great work of this initiative and to spotlight the diversity of practice being produced in the region’s art schools. At a time when our region’s exemplary art and design HE institutions face pressures of finance and national policy, it is also important to restate the contribution they make to our thriving sector.

Exhibition dates:

Turner Contemporary, Margate, 2 September 2019 – 5 January 2019 (solo exhibition series)

Modern Art Oxford, 5 September – 13 October 2019 (solo exhibition series)

Aspex, Portsmouth, 4 October – 29 December 2019 (group exhibition)

MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 7 – 30 November 2019 (group exhibition)

Share your thoughts on social media – #PlatformGraduateAward #Platform2019

Images (left to right, top to bottom): The Fish and Chip Shop, Gwen Datyner, 2019; Artificial Worlds, untitled landscape view, Natalie Andrews, 2019; There’s nothin’ soft about hard times, Amy Richardson, University of Reading Degree Show, 2019; and Bath Soap and Body, installation view at University for the Creative Arts – UCA Canterbury, Wren Moat, 2019.