Visitors' Choice

John Moores 24 - The Walker Art Gallery

The £1,000 Visitors’ Choice prize in the John Moores 24 exhibition of contemporary painting has been won by Nicholas Middleton with 'Scene From a Contemporary Novel'.
His monochrome oil painting depicting a young woman in a rubbish-strewn street polled an impressive 709 votes out of a total of 5,063 cast by visitors to the exhibition between 16 September and 29 October 2006. Visitors could choose any of the exhibition’s 52 pictures.

Comments about 'Scene From a Contemporary Novel' on the Visitors’ Choice voting cards included: “Simply the best!” – “It has been very cleverly painted” – “LOVE IT!” – “Who needs colour to bring things to life?” – “All that is good about photo-realist painting” “The girl in the picture could well be myself … Very evocative”.

Ann Bukantas, the Walker’s curator of fine art and a John Moores 24 jury member, says: “This is a well-deserved Visitors’ Choice winner with its almost photographic detail which cannot fail to fascinate the viewer. When we were judging the competition we spent a lot of time looking at this remarkable painting which also says a lot about contemporary urban life.”

Born in London in 1975, Nicholas Middleton studied at London Guildhall University and Winchester School of Art. His exhibitions include Defining the Times (Milton Keynes Gallery 2000), The Discerning Eye (Mall Galleries, London 2004) and BP Portrait Award 2004 and 2005 at the National Portrait Gallery.

Nicholas was shortlisted for the BOC Emerging Artist Award in 2002, has shown four times in the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy and was included in John Moores 23 (2004).

Second in the poll was Graham Crowley’s prizewinning painting 'Red Reflection' (454 votes) and third was Gary ‘Dollman’ Sollars’ 'When I Grow Up I Want To Go In There' (317). Images available upon request.

John Moores 24 ends on Sunday 26 November 2006. 

 Notes to Editors

Supported by the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition Trust and A Foundation.
Radisson SAS Hotel Liverpool is the official hotel partner for John Moores 24. All those who voted in Visitors’ Choice were entered in a prize draw sponsored by Radisson for a meal for two in the hotel’s Filini restaurant.

For ten weeks every two years, several hundred of the world’s most exciting visual artists show their work in over 40 locations across Liverpool city centre, from major gallery spaces to unexpected temporary locations. The fourth Liverpool Biennial, the UK's contemporary visual art festival, takes place 16 September to 26 November 2006. Co-ordinated by Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art Ltd, it is delivered in association with the city’s major visual arts organisations: Tate Liverpool, the Walker Art Gallery, FACT (Foundation for Art & Creative Technology) Open Eye, A Foundation and Bluecoat Art Centre as well as smaller arts groups and organisations. An extensive programme includes International 06, John Moores 24, Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2006 and a penumbra of smaller scale exhibitions.

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