National Museums Liverpool Blog - John Moores

Thousands of visitors have already voted for their favourite painting.

There is only one week left to vote for your favourite painting in the John Moores Visitor’s Choice prize at the Walker Art Gallery.

Angela Samata, John Moores project manger, explains how tight the voting is at the moment: “This year we have 45 very different paintings for visitors to choose from. The quality and variety of paintings in the exhibition has ensured the votes are close and we have quite a task ahead of us to count them! We are grateful to Rathbones for sponsoring the Visitors’ Choice prize, which encourages intense debate and interest in contemporary painting”.

Angela has also given us a sneak preview of the five paintings which have taken an early lead:

• Jon Braley’s resin-coated "untitled" work which celebrates the power and energy of nature

• Richard Harrison’s imaginary landscape, the expressionist painting "Mountain Peaks"

• Nicholas Middleton’s photo-realist painting "Protest, April 1st 2009" depicting Financial Fools’ Day protest outside the Bank of England. Nicholas was selected as a prize winner this year and he also won the John Moores Visitors’ Choice prize in 2006

• Liverpool-born Steve Proudfoot’s enigmatic work "The Party" which poignantly depicts an ordinary scene of family life

• Christian Ward’s psychedelic painting "Frontier Monument" with its mysterious details and layers.

But don’t worry if your favourite is not amongst the above. You still have until 10.30pm on 18 November, when the gallery is open late for Long Night, to place your vote.

The winner will be revealed on Thursday 25 November.

Nicholas Middleton talks about his painting

Nicholas Middleton’s "Protest, April 1st 2009" has been a popular painting in this year’s John Moores Painting Prize. Visitors have been astonished by the level of accuracy and detail in the stunning photo-realist painting. As one visitor put it: "So alive! Can not believe it is a painting!"

The judges this year certainly also felt the painting stood out, making it one of the five prizewinners.

Nicholas came to the gallery on Wednesday to talk about his work and this painting in particular. I was really interested to hear that he had actually been at the protest and had taken the photograph himself. I had presumed it was a photograph he’d found but knowing he was there, and part of the crowds of people attempting to make their voices heard, gives an extra dimension to the work.

Nicholas explained he takes his camera everywhere with him and is actually one of the few people remaining using film. He even develops the film himself which is why his paintings tend to be black and white, it being cheaper and easier to develop.

From all the photographs he took that day the composition of this stood out to Nicholas because it seemed to him he could create from it something following in the tradition of a particular type of ambitious Victorian painting. He made a comparison to the work of William Powell Frith, in particular his painting “Derby Day”, making the connection that they were both images of society, full of life and energy, that represented a particular point in history.

There are more free artists talks scheduled over the next few weeks.

And there is still a chance to vote for your favourite painting in the Visitors’ Choice prize in the gallery. Nicholas won the Visitors’ Choice in 2006. Keep an eye out on the blog to see if he can make it “a double”!

We've a few copies of the John Moores Painting Prize catalogue to give away in our latest competition. Each has been signed by the competition winner - Keith Coventry - and is a real collector's item.

To be in with a chance of winning just answer this easy peasy question:

The 2010 catalogue features the five prize winners from another John Moores competition which is in its inaugural year. In which Chinese city did that competition take place?

Send us your answer with your name and address using this contact form. The deadline for entries is noon on Friday 29 October, 2010.

If you’re not lucky enough to win a copy, you can buy your own at our online shop. 

Well, we've barely had time to recover from the excitement of Keith Coventry winning the John Moores Painting Prize and it's now time to get excited about another prizewinner!

Voting for the coveted 'Visitors' Choice Award' is now open, which means that you get to tell us which painting is your favourite. Pick up a voting card in the gallery once you've seen the exhibition and cast your vote in the box provided by 18 November 2010. If you vote, you will be put into our prize draw for the chance to win a dinner for two courtesy of the Radisson. The artist with the most votes will win £2010 and the winner will be announced on 25 November 2010.

In the meantime, why not have a look at our latest behind the scenes video? It includes an interview with Keith Coventry as he reveals the inspiration behind 'Spectrum Jesus' and the exciting moment when he received his prize at our opening event.

The winner of the £25,000 prize!

The announcement of the winner of John Moores 2010 was made last night by acclaimed painter and competition judge, Alison Watt to a rapturous response by the private view audience and the press. Described by fellow judge, Sir Norman Rosenthal, as the 'Oscar of the British painting world' the John Moores Painting Prize was awarded to Keith Coventry for his painting 'Spectrum Jesus'. This haunting portrait in shades of dark blue invites you to get up close so you can peer into its dark depths!

I spoke to Keith and asked him about his inspiration for this painting and also about how he thinks the medium of paint fits into today's contemporary art world. If you want to find out his thoughts, then come back soon to our video page to watch the video interview!

We also shared the event with the world via a live video webcast on our website. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is the first time this has been done in the competition's 53 year history. Thanks to everyone who tuned in to watch - all 395 of you! We also got you all talking on Twitter, with lots of comments using our #JM2010 hashtage - you can read them here.

You can read about all the artists in the exhibition in our online catalogue or buy a copy of the exhibition catalogue, which has loads more exclusive commentary from the jury.

The exhibition opens tomorrow at the Walker Art Gallery and it's well worth coming along to see the winning painting in the flesh as small images don't really do it justice!

Peter McDonald was the last winner. Who will be in the limelight this year?

It's official: I'm giddy with excitement as tomorrow I will be part of making history!

For the first time in its 53 year history, the announcement of the winner of the John Moores Painting Prize will be broadcast live on the internet. It means that this usually exclusive event will be open to all - so why not throw your own private view at home, just add friends and canapés! 

I'll be there with my laptop making sure it is broadcasting for you on time, so see if you can spot our judges Alison Watt, Gary Hume, Goshka Macuga, Ged Quinn and Sir Norman Rosenthal as they attend this exciting opening event.

Just visit our website www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/johnmooreslive at 6.30pm tomorrow (Thursday 16 September) to watch all the action and find out which artist scoops the £25,000 first prize.

You can also follow who is talking about us on Twitter and join in the discussion by using our #JM2010 hashtag. 

Detail of 'For Your Pleasure' by Philip Diggle, one of the 45 shortlisted artists for the John Moores Painting Prize exhibition.

We have a wealth of exciting art on display for you during the Liverpol Biennial from Saturday 18 September - 28 November 2010. Most exhibitions will be on show at the Walker Art Gallery. With everything from full exhibtions of contemporary paintings to individual video installation pieces, you can explore a variety of mediums that make up contemporary art today.

All the following exhibtions and one-off pieces will be on show during the Biennial and some will continue beyond this period:

John Moores Painting Prize exhibition - Now, in its 53rd year the competition boasts a roll call of esteemed winners, including David Hockney and Peter Doig. Almost 3,000 entrants submitted work in the hope of winning the first prize of £25,000. Forty five works are included in the exhibition. More information here.

Wolfgang Tillmans - Look out for Tillmans' stunning photographic interventions around the gallery, showing the Turner Prize winning artist’s very personal response to the Walker Art Gallery’s distinguished permanent collection. More information here.

Marcus Coates: Journey to the Lower World - A unique video artwork featuring residents from a tower block awaiting demolition who watch with a mixture of anxiety, faith and good humour as Coates performs a shamanic ritual. More information here.

The Temple of a Thousand Bells by Laura Belém - Situated at The Oratory in St James' cemetary (not at the Walker Art Gallery), this evocative and poignant artwork features a thousand hand-blown glass bells and polyphonic sounds. More information here.

All exhibitions are free and you can download a Biennial map to explore the rest of the art in the city.

The Beat Goes On: Liverpool, Popular Music and the Changing City

It's all go on the publications front at NML with new titles arriving and due shortly.

You may already know that we recently launched a book to accompany the Hitched exhibition at Sudley House. Also called Hitched it features 13 beautiful wedding outfits in full colour, together with close-up details and many original wedding photographs. It's a snip at £4.95 and is available through our venue shops and our online bookshop.

If you enjoyed The Beat Goes On exhibition at World Museum last year then the new book of the same name is for you. It is a critical historical account of popular music in Liverpool, looking at why the city is so important musically and how has it sustained its importance, from the Beatles to the Zutons and beyond. It's also available to buy online and through our venues.

Very soon we'll be launching Transatlantic Slavery: An Introduction and that old favourite, the John Moores catalogue to accompany this year's exhibition - more on both on the online shop.

Win a book: If you fancy getting your hands on any of these just answer this simple question - how many art books are featured in the NML online shop? (clue: some are available in more than one package so count carefully.) Send us your answer with your name, address and the name of the book you would prefer using this contact form. The deadline for entries is noon on Friday 10 September at 2010.

Update 01.09.10: Apologies to people who tried to enter yesterday and couldn't. Please use the entry form instead.

The place where the paintings will be judged.

This week sees the start of stage 2 of the judging for the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize 2010!

As promised in my previous post, I will be taking you behind the scenes by bringing you an online video of all the judging action later this week.

The JM2010 jury - Gary Hume, Alison Watt, Sir Norman Rosenthal, Ged Quinn and Goshka Macuga - will be arriving in Liverpool in the next day or so and will begin judging the paintings that have got through to stage 2.

As judge Alison Watt said in the video for stage 1, this is where things start to get really exciting as the jury will be seeing the paintings 'in the flesh'. They will get to see the surfaces, sizes and textures of each painting and really get to grips with which paintings they are connecting with the most.

Above you can see the viewing cube which will be used to show the paintings to our jury as they decide which one will win that coveted first prize. The first prizewinning painting is in that room somewhere - who knows which one it will be!

You'll have to wait until September to find out, but in the mean time you can subscribe to our John Moores news feed or follow us on Twitter, to hear first when the video for stage 2 goes online... 

Following the recent founding of the John Moore's painting prize in Shanghai, representatives from Liverpool and Shanghai caught up yesterday to discuss art in the UK and China and the running of the John Moore competitions.

From the Walker Art Gallery, participants in Liverpool were able to talk face to face to those in China via a live video conference link.

Angela Samata, Project Manager for the John Moores 2010 shares her thoughts on the video meeting:

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from a live video conference as I entered the empty gallery yesterday. I’ve used video conferencing before, but only within the UK, so the chance to link live with Shanghai was really exciting, but also a little bit nerve-wracking.

I needn’t have worried. When the unassuming button that has the ability to link two places hundreds of miles apart was pressed, waving hands and smiling faces greeted us from Shanghai and it really was hard to fathom the miles between us.

The participants in China were from a wide range of backgrounds including gallery owners, representatives from the Shanghai University Fine Arts College and the China Artist Association. Three of the judges from the John Moores Shanghai competition also joined the discussions. They were artists Gu WenDa and Zeng Fanzhi and Lewis Biggs, Artistic Director of Liverpool Biennial.

The discussions, via an interpreter, gave both sides a chance to explore the practical aspects of running a painting prize. Both sides acknowledged the importance of cultural contexts and discussed the continuing vitality and importance of contemporary painting in the UK and China.

It was a really useful exchange of ideas and it is hoped that we will host similar events in the future, with a backdrop of John Moores 2010 paintings on the walls of the gallery.

We're also going to display the winners of the John Moores Shanghai competition here and we are exploring further ways that we will be able to work together in the future.

So, watch this space!