No, I don’t know who the winner is (despite my best efforts to find out) but…
UK’s largest painting prize shortlist – John Moores Painting Prize
Puddles, pleasure and protest all feature in this year’s John Moores Painting Prize, which opens at the Walker Art Gallery from 18 September 2010 to 3 January 2011.
45 paintings shortlisted from almost 3,000 entrants cover traditional themes of portraiture, landscape, still lives and abstracts but their execution and direction are far from old fashioned, proving the vitality and power of contemporary painting.
Artists have drawn inspiration from a wide range of sources. Examples include:
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•   Protest, 1st April 2009 by Nicholas Middleton, a photorealist painting of the G20 demonstrations outside the Bank of England in 2009, where newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson died.
•   Puddle Painting: Dioxazine by Ian Davenport was created with heavy duty syringes pouring paint down a panel. The repeated stripes of colours form relationships and a rhythm inspired by patterns in music.
•   Episodical by Darren Coffield explores the world of images and ideology with an intriguing portrait of Christopher Reeve’s iconic Superman.
•   Refractions (Robert Hooke) by Jason Thompson is a colourful geometric image, constructed through multiple layers which contradict and overlay each other.
•   For Your Pleasure by Philip Diggle is a vibrant abstract painting full of texture and energy.
The exhibition forms a key part of the Liverpool Biennial.
For the first time in the history of the competition the announcement of the winner will be broadcast live on the internet on Thursday 16 September 2010 at: www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/johnmooreslive.
The full list of shortlisted artists:
1.   Cornelia Baltes: THERE YOU ARE!
2.   Jon Braley: Untitled
3.   GL Brierley: Jilly Jiggy
4.   Deborah Burnstone: Freeway
5.   Darren Coffield: Episodical
6.   Keith Coventry: Spectrum Jesus
7.   Edward Coyle: Multiplicity study
8.   Theo Cuff: Untitled
9.   Stuart Cumberland: YLLW240
10.   Ian Davenport: Puddle Painting: Dioxazine
11.   Philip Diggle: For Your Pleasure
12.   Tim Ellis: United in Different Guises XXXXIII
13.   Geraint Evans: An Alpine Biodome
14.   Adam Fearon: Untitled
15.   Damien Flood: Drip
16.   Nick Fox: Metatopia
17.   David Fulford: Near the Site
18.   Mikey Georgeson: Untitled (Dopamine – Molecule of Intuition)
19.   Chris Hamer: Crook
20.   Andy Harper: Frau Troffea
21.   Richard Harrison: Mountain Peaks
22.   Sigrid Holmwood: Butchering a Pig
23.   Phil Illingworth: 3D painting No.1 (experiments with colour reflection)
24.   Lee Johnson: The Kerchief or Dr Olfato’s Welcome
25.   Neal Jones: Orange Paving
26.   Joseph Long: Hortus Botanicus
27.   Elizabeth McDonald: Bee Keepers I
28.   Nicholas Middleton: Protest, 1st April 2009
29.   Michael Miller: Suspended Animation
30.   Matthew Mounsey: Prehistoric Sex Machine
31.   Jost Münster: To the left
32.   Cara Nahaul: Somewhere between prayer and agenda
33.   Narbi Price: Untitled See Saw Painting
34.   Steven Proudfoot: The Party
35.   Sabrina Shah: Witness
36.   Annabelle Shelton: Helter Skelter Runway
37.   George Sherlock: Polycrylic Decades
38.   Michael Simpson: Bench Painting Untitled
39.   Henrietta Simson: Giotto’s Template
40.   Veronica Smirnoff: Lubo
41.   Ian Peter Smith: Matter at the edge
42.   Daniel Sturgis: Still Squallings
43.   Geraldine Swayne: Industrialist on Wheels
44.   Jason Thompson: Refractions (Robert Hooke)
45.   Christian Ward: Frontier Monument