Emerging Artists Award Show To Run At Royal Academy

The Converse X Dazed Emerging Artists Award is now hitting it's 5th year of rewarding the UK's new art talent. The award sees judges Tim Marlow (Royal Academy of Arts), Francesca Gavin (Dazed), Sarah McCrory (Glasgow International), art dealer Javier Peres (Peres projects), and artists José Pala and Steven Claydon picking through new British talent that is a) unrepresented by a gallery, b) resident in the UK and c) not in education. An exhibition of all 5 finalists work is set to take place at The Royal Academy of Arts from April 18th to May 17th. The short listed artists have been announced as Jonathan Trayte, Lawrence Lek, Rachel Pimm, Tamsin Snow & Sarah Tynan And Patrick Cole. They've each been given £1,000 to create a new site specific piece in The Royal Academy, with the winner to be announced on April 16th.

The artists themselves explore a variety of themes, from performances of dystopian sci-fi story telling to ceramic renditions of food – here's a bit on each of them:

JONATHAN TRAYTE

Royal Academy Schools graduate, sculptor Jonathan Trayte, mines obscure night markets and Chinese ‘cash and carry’ chains for inspiration. From pineapples to plantains, he transforms exotic foods into a rich mix of glazed ceramic, painted bronze and aluminum cutouts in seductive flamboyant colours, presenting them in dizzying multi- layered installations.

LAWRENCE LEK

Lawrence Lek, current resident at The White Building and graduate of The Cooper Union, uses video game software to create utopian worlds for viewers to explore. He builds videos into immersive hybrid environments that lead us to uncover hidden zones, concealed objects and cyclical patters, reflecting the impact of technology on our perception of place.

RACHEL PIMM

Artist and founder of Auto Italia South East, Rachel Pimm gained her MFA from Goldsmiths College in 2013. Her research-based practice intertwines sculpture, performance and video to explore the fluid interaction between natural and artificial worlds. Working with industry professionals in bioengineering and recycling she investigates scientific and commercial interventions into organic growth.

TAMSIN SNOW AND SARAH TYNAN

Tamsin Snow and Sarah Tynan met whilst studying for their MA’s in sculpture and painting respectively at the College of Art and have collaborated since 2014. Building ominous large-scale architectural environments, they adjust and remake specific buildings to raise questions about the meanings behind architectural and social spaces.

PATRICK COLE

Performance artist Patrick Cole gained his MFA from Glasgow School of Art in 2014. His satirical storytelling builds narratives inspired by dystopian science fiction. He builds sets around his performances that leave clues for the viewer: lunar landscapes, a beehive, a gravestone, or a bell so that we start to formulate our own logic around his surreal content.