John Moores Painting Prize 2014

Interesting exhibition at the Walker Gallery for this painting competition which is held every two years and aims to reflect the best of contemporary art.

As with most competitions there were some nice works and some not so good. I’ll admit I didn’t really understand the winner “PV windows and floorboards” by Rose Wylie and could feel the words “A child could have done it” starting to appear in my head but I am sure there is something I missed.

My favourites were inevitably the ones with a subject such as David Dawson’s “18.45 April 7th 2011” a picture of 1930s houses in a street done in thick impasto paint or “Tony Noble’s “Small houses and big tress”.

I fell in love with Frank Pudney’s “People 68104” which had thousands of tiny people grouped together to make up a Chinese style picture. It had a feeling of Anthony Gromley’s “Fields” or as I call them, with great fondness, the little people.

The most novel work was one by Conor Niall Rogers painted on a crisp packet!

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