LONDON.- Russell Hill announced as overall winner of the Catlin Art Prize 2011, now celebrating its fifth year at The Tramshed, Shoreditch.

To celebrate the fifth year of The Catlin Art Prize, the 2011 exhibition invited former winners and key artists from previous years to show alongside the fresh selection of recent graduates.

This year, judges Julia Royse, consultant and curator, gallerist Simon Oldfield and collector Richard Greer chose Russell Hill, 22, as the winner for his installation Fabric Softeners. Art Catlin presented Russell with £5,000, an increased amount from last year’s prize – and a mark of Catlin’s continued support of the emergent arts.

“We had an excellent trio of judges this year – curator Julia Royse, gallerist Simon Oldfield and collector Richard Greer – I enjoyed listening to them deliberate over the winner and I think they’ve made an excellent choice. I know the money will prove hugely significant in aiding Russell’s development as an artist.” - Justin Hammond, curator of the Catlin Art Prize

“The Catlin Art Prize was an amazing opportunity, and I am endlessly grateful to Justin Hammond for his continued support. The prize provided me with the confidence to produce new work and to stand by my creative decisions within a very difficult and unsettling first year out of college. This has been validated by me winning the prize this year and the funds will secure my studio space for many months to come, even years! The show itself provided me with the chance to gain invaluable feedback on the new work, which as an artist, is possibly the most important thing, and for that, I am eternally grateful.” - Russell Hill, Winner of the Catlin Art Prize 2011

In addition to the overall prize, a new bursary, open to all 17 participants of the exhibition, was introduced for 2011 -The Catlin Commission. This was intended to be awarded to one artist to create a new piece of work for the Catlin collection, with financial backing of up to £3,000. However, judges were so impressed by the extraordinary level of work exhibited that two winners were chosen, Jasmina Cibic and Will Martyr; each was awarded the full £3,000 funding to complete their work.

The shortlist for The Catlin Art Prize 2011 was: Leah Capaldi, Darren Harvey-Regan, Russell Hill, Noemie Goudal and Juliette Losq. Each of these young talents is currently exhibiting their work at The Tramshed, in the heart of Shoreditch. Currently showing alongside the 2011 shortlist are also previous winners Brigitte Williams, Alex Ball, Sarah Lederman, and Reynir Hutber, as well as former participants such as Jasmina Cibic, Adam Dix and David A. Smith.