LONDON.- Jerwood Visual Arts and Drawing Projects UK are delighted to announce that Gary Lawrence has been awarded the First Prize of £6,000 for his drawing Homage to Anonymous in the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011. His work, along with that of the 60 short-listed artists will be shown at JVA at Jerwood Space, London from 14 September – 30 October 2011.

Gary Lawrence lives and works in Essex. His work, Homage to Anonymous, a large scale drawing made in ballpoint pen on the back of discarded posters, is ‘a tribute to all the anonymous artists through history who made work but are unrecognised’. He explains:

‘Homage to Anonymous began in 2010 as a simple view of Pothea (the main town on the Greek island of Kalymnos) where I went on holiday. While working on it, I began thinking of other artist’s views of towns, especially El Greco’s View and Plan of Toledo (1608-14). While checking my El Greco book, I saw View of Candia (Litta di Candia) (1582) and View of Toledo (1582), both drawings which I initially thought to be by El Greco. (Candia, I found out, is Herak Lion, Capital of Crete, El Greco’s island of birth). All these historical references, plus my own holiday snapshots of Kalymnos, were combined over many months to finish the drawing in June 2011.’

Gary studied BA Fine Art at Portsmouth Polytechnic (1978-81), MA at Eastern Illinois University, USA (1981-2) and an MFA at Southern Illinois University, USA (1990-92). He has exhibited in several group shows, most recently in the Eastern Open, Kings Lynn (2010, 2011) where he won First Prize in both years.

The Jerwood Drawing Prize is the largest and longest running annual open exhibition for drawing in the UK. Judged by an independent panel of selectors, the Prize aims to recognise and support all UK based artists, from student to established, working in the field of drawing.

Approximately 3,500 entries were submitted this year for consideration by the distinguished panel of selectors: Iwona Blazwick, Director, Whitechapel Gallery; Tim Marlow, writer, broadcaster and Director of Exhibitions, White Cube; and Rachel Whiteread, artist. The shortlist includes established artists as well as relative newcomers and students fresh from art school.

A Second Prize of £3,000 was awarded to Jessie Brennan, who lives and works in London. Her 5-metre long pencil drawing, The Cut, is a culmination of an artist project about the Lea River Navigation Canal commissioned by SPACE, (2011). Her work ‘explores the social history of the area. Part of an ongoing investigation into our psychological and physical interpretation of place and time, it explores the nature of local mythologies constructed by our collective memory.’

Jessie has studied at Falmouth College of Art (2000-01), Cardiff School of Art and Design (2001-04) and the Royal College of Art, London (2005-07) and has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions including the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2010.

Two Student Awards of £1,000 each went to Nicki Rolls for Sketch and Kristian Fletcher for Lake. Nicki Rolls is currently studying MA Fine Art at Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts London. Sketch, a 16mm black and white film, which has been digitally animated and projected on an open book, explores ‘the idea of writing movement with light and the relationship between film, animation and drawing.’ Kristian Fletcher is currently studying Drawing and Applied Arts at the University of the West of England. Kristian’s interest lies in architecture, space and geometry, born from ten years of experience within the construction industry.

An exhibition of selected works will take place at JVA at Jerwood Space, London from 14 September – 30 October 2011. The exhibition will then tour nationally.