Rose Wylie may have scooped the top prize this year but now the public have had their say…
Juliette Losq’s enormous painting of an urban scene strewn with bin bags and graffiti, and overgrown with twisted plants and weeds, is the winner of the John Moores Painting Prize Visitors’ Choice 2014.
Since the exhibition opened in July, visitors have been voting in their thousands for their favourite work, and with such a varied selection people were spoilt for choice between eerie photorealist works, stunning portraiture, landscape and figurative work or intriguing abstract paintings.
However, it was the overwhelming Vinculum by London-born Losq that captured the imagination of most visitors, with its dizzying sense of perspective and incredible detail, winning the artist the £2,014 award.
If you haven’t seen it already, its worth the trip: Vinculum (watercolour and ink on paper, on canvas, 290 x 220 cm) is a stunning feat, belying the usual expectations of a watercolour to be small and discreet, this striking painting immerses the viewer and tips them into a seemingly murky space. In keeping with traditional watercolours there are beautiful and delicate elements to the work, which is built up in layers and depicts a steep set of stairs leading down to the hostile-looking yard.
The painting is on display as part of the John Moores Painting Prize, the UK’s most prestigious painting prize. The exhibition is free and open daily until 30 November 2014.
Juliette Losq has said that “Winning the Visitors’ Choice award is a fantastic way to conclude the great experience of being part of John Moores 2014. It means a great deal that visitors to the Walker have taken the time to vote for my painting Vinculum, and that it has struck a chord with them in some way.
“One of the most exciting things about the John Moores Painting Prize is that you are able to show your work to large numbers of people who have never seen it before, it’s an opportunity for all of the participating artists to gain a broader audience for their work in a fantastic setting.”
For a full list of exhibiting artists, visit: www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/johnmoores
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