National Museums Liverpool Blog - John Moores

Artists Ged Quinn, Alison Watt and Gary Hume during stage 1

At last! Our first look behind the scenes of the John Moores 2010 is now online.

Watch the video here...

You will see judges Gary Hume, Ged Quinn and Alison Watt talking about the competition so far and footage from inside the judging room itself, with snatches of their discussions!

Fellow judges Goshka Macuga and Sir Norman Rosenthal were absent due to the ban on flights at the time because of the volcanic ash problems. Their choices were included as Reyahn King, Head of Art Galleries at National Museums Liverpool, read out their preferences during the judging process.

We also now have a John Moores 2010 Flickr set which we will be adding to over the course of the competition and exhibition.

Look out for the next behind the scenes video, which will be looking at Stage 2 of the judging, taking place in Liverpool in June.

This is where it will get really exciting, as the judges get to see the paintings 'in the flesh' to make their final choices and decide on the winner. To stay up to date, follow JM2010 on Twitter or sign up for our JM2010 blog news feed here.

Gary Hume, one of the judges for the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize 2010. Photo: Georgie Hopton

Excitement is mounting as we're now starting the first stage of judging for the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize 2010! With a first prize of £25,000 and four further prizes of £2500 on the table, there is certainly plenty to get excited about. We've already seen some entries featuring canvasses smeared in beeswax and one daubed with coffee, so we know there will be plenty of variety and innovation for the judges to get their teeth into.

We want to keep you in the loop in the run up to the announcement of the winner and for the first time in the history of the John Moores, we will be giving you an exclusive look behind the scenes! We will be posting up videos on our website over the next few months showing sneaky peeks of the Stage 1 and Stage 2 judging, in London and Liverpool respectively. 

Our first bit of filming will go ahead on Wednesday at Rochelle School in London for the Stage 1 judging. We're hoping to grab a chat with the judges when they take their tea break and we might even get to sit in on the judging process! We'll be tweeting about what we see and hear while the judging is going on and hope to post up some mini video clips while we're there. Remember to follow @JohnMoores2010 on Twitter to get the latest updates - we'll let you know when the final video is online.

Look out for video coverage of the private view and winner's announcement at the Walker Art Gallery in September and video interviews with visitors at the exhibition after it has opened, to find out what their favourite paintings are.

I've got to go now and think up some questions to ask the jury, but get ready to see more of the John Moores than you've ever seen before!

John Moores Project Manager Angela Samata looks after everything to do with the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize - here she is to tell us about how things have been going with JM2010 so far...

So, today is the day that the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize 2010 took the leap into the previously unknown world of Twitter - and what a response!  

The John Moores mailbox was full of entries and emails saying that other twitterers, if that’s the right term, had started following us when I arrived at the snowy and very chilly Walker Art Gallery this morning. 

The John Moores 2010 is also the first time that artists can enter online - another great success - with over 90% of entrants using this method to register for the prize and the chance to walk away with the £25,000 prize money.

The prize today has the same ethos it always has: to showcase the best of contemporary painting talent at the Walker art Gallery. It is open to all throughout the UK, professional and non professional artists alike.

Entrants now have just 6 weeks left to register, as the Call For Entries closes on 19 February 2010.

So enter online today at www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/johnmoores or email jm2010@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk to request a registration form.

For all the latest JM2010 news, you can follow us on Twitter: @JohnMoores2010

Good luck with your entry!

The John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize now open to entries.

Any artists considering entering the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize would do well to get inside the head of a previous judge. Matthew Collings, who hosted What is Beauty? last Saturday evening, was on the panel for John Moores 22 in 2002 when the artist Peter Davies won.

In the programme Collings lists his top 10 favourite “beauty experiences” in art. From an amazing bridge designed by Sir Norman Foster to pre-historic cave art, his perception of beauty is really interesting and varied. Definitely worth a watch on iplayer.

Ah what can you say to describe the amazing PJ Harvey? Rock star. Legend. Fan of Nick Cave. Player of Gibson Firebird guitars. The most glamorous person to come from Dorset...and now a lover of bouncy castles! Let me explain. 

PJ Harvey has been recording with her long-time collaborator John Parish and the first single from their forthcoming album will be out on 13 April. The video for this single, 'Black Hearted Love', has been made by British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman who we were pleased to have on the jury for the recent John Moores 25 Contemporary Painting Prize at the Walker Art Gallery.

The video is pretty cool I think, spooky yet graceful is what I'd say. Here's what the Chapman brothers said about it: "We decided 'Black Hearted Love' deserved something haunting and enigmatic - yet brazen and colourful. Hence, a collision between an ominous forest and a garish bouncy castle seemed entirely appropriate..." (Quote from NME.com)

Have a look and see what you think...

We've been following the progress of Kensington Youth Inclusion Project on the blog, from when they first started working on ideas based on the John Moores 25 exhibition, to doing paintings of their own with artist Keiron Finnetty, right up to now, with the final display of their paintings in the gallery at the weekend. The group have even tried their hand at Haiku and rhyming couplet poems inspired by the exhibition! We recorded their readings of these poems and they'll be available to download as a podcast on the website soon.  Here is Learning Officer Lauren Gould's final words on the work of these budding artists:

Be sure to make a trip down to the Walker to see these unique takes on paintings in the John Moores 25 exhibition before the show closes on 4 January 2009; a great way to walk off those extra Christmas calories!

Artist Keiron Finnetty with artists from the Kensington Youth Inclusion Project and Learning Officer Lauren Gould.

The public have spoken! After several weeks of voting, you have chosen Julian Brain's painting, 'Special Relativity', as the worthy winner of the Visitors' Choice Award. Julian was also chosen by this year's jurors as one of four runners up in the main John Moores 25 competition and is the only self-taught artist in the entire exhibition. 

He was at the Walker Art Gallery this morning to collect his prize. Alex Richmond from Rathbone Investment Management presented him with a cheque for £2008 to celebrate the 2008 Capital of Culture year. Julian was also given a bottle of champagne - though he said it was a bit early in the day for him to open it!

Alex Richmond (right) presents Julian Brain (left) with a cheque for £2008.

As promised in an earlier post, here's an update on the work of Kensington Youth Inclusion Group who have recently been creating their own versions of paintings from the John Moores 25 exhibition. Their interpretation of 'Black Bile' is certainly a refreshing new take on the painting, using an attractive candy pink! Here's Learning Officer Lauren Gould to tell us more...

Over four after-school sessions at the Kensington Youth Inclusion Project centre, we have created some fabulous works.  Local artist Keiron Finnetty help each of the two groups to create a large work based on some of their favourite paintings from the John Moores exhibition.

They collectively worked on a re-interpretation of 'Fontana' by Peter McDonald and 'Black Bile' by Alex Gene Morrison.  I highly recommend making a visit to the Walker Art Gallery once these unique works go on show at the beginning of December!

Each young artist then created a painting of their own, based on sketching done during their visit to the John Moores 25 exhibition in October.  This coming Saturday they will make their final visit to the Walker to write poems responding to the paintings that inspired them most. 

November's name that artwork competition begins on Monday morning. If you're a regular you probably know that you'll need to be quick - they often go in the first few hours. If you're new to the game the gist is that you are shown a detail from a painting in our collection and you've got to name the artwork and the artist. There's a new clue every day for the week, with the winner receiving a copy of the John Moores exhibition catalogue.

I'm good at making spaghetti bolognese, I'm not bad on bass guitar, but I am no good at drawing! I'm envious of anyone who's good with a pencil and we've been lucky enough to have some budding artists at the Walker Art Gallery recently, from Kensington Youth Inclusion Group. Here's Learning Officer Lauren Gould to explain what the group have been up to...

Making great art together: budding artists from the Kensington Youth Inclusion Group.

You may remember that some fantastic young artists took part in completing the 'Superfiveadaybanana' that was in the Walker Art Gallery as part of 'Go Superlambananas' over the summer.  Once again, these young people are participating in a project that will bring their work into the gallery for a unique display. 

Eleven young people from Kensington Youth Inclusion Group visited the John Moores 25 exhibition during the October half term.  They explored the exhibition looking at texture, colour, pattern and light as well as discerning the difference between abstract and figurative art.  The group focused on 'Fontana' by Peter McDonald, 'Sometimes We Sense the Doubt Together' by Roland Hicks and 'Special Relativity' by Julian Brain and explored the themes of; artists at work, everyday objects and home. Each young person did a drawing that they are going to develop into their own painting with local artist Keiron Finnetty.

Watch this space for images of their work progressing on the blog and for their paintings, which will be up in the resource area in the John Moores 25 exhibition at the end of November.