LONDON.- Minister for the Arts, Michael Ellis MP, today announced that Turner Prize shortlisted artist, Hurvin Anderson, has been awarded the first commission by the Government Art Collection (GAC), as part of a new ten-year initiative, TenTen.

The TenTen Commission is being produced jointly by the Government Art Collection with Outset Contemporary Art Fund. The project is sponsored by leading philanthropists Sybil Robson Orr and Matthew Orr.

Every year over the next decade, a British artist will be commissioned by GAC to create a unique, limited edition print which will be shown in diplomatic buildings across the world. A small number will be available for purchase through a collaboration with the pioneering philanthropic arts organisation Outset to raise funds for the GAC acquisition fund.

Hurvin Anderson’s print Still Life with Artificial Flowers is an intricate print that evokes a snapshot of the artist’s mother’s front room in Birmingham. Hurvin Anderson graduated from Wimbledon School of Art in 1994 and his distinct painting style is informed both by British painters such as Leon Kossoff, Michael Andrews and David Hockney as well as a generation of Black British artists, Sonia Boyce, Eddie Chambers and Keith Piper. The youngest of eight siblings, Anderson was the only child not to be born in Jamaica, instilling an interest in his dual identity that plays throughout his work.

For the print commission, Anderson has worked with The Print Studio’s Kip Gresham and Alan Grabham to replicate sourced and saved fabrics and wallpapers. The thirteen base colours in the print are built up from 15 stencils over 21 layers. The rich use of pattern to flatten and confuse the space references the techniques of Henri Matisse.

As the first TenTen Commission, fifteen prints will be framed and displayed in British embassies and residences worldwide.

Michael Ellis MP, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, said: Art and culture is one of our great calling cards to the world. I am delighted that Hurvin Anderson will be the first of ten artists to take part in this exciting initiative that will support the Government Art Collection’s role in promoting British art on the global stage.

We truly appreciate the support of the Outset Contemporary Art Fund and Sybil Robson Orr and Matthew Orr in allowing us to launch this opportunity, which will highlight even more of our artistic talent to the world.