LONDON.- The National Open Art Competition who count Ronnie Wood as their Patron and Gavin Turk as their Vice President is delighted to award Mackie the Towry Award for the Best Work in 2014 in the 18th National Open Art Exhibition. Mackie was presented with the £10,000 top prize at a private awards ceremony on 24 September, opened by Director of the Somerset House Trust, Jonathan Reekie CBE.

Mackie’s award winning oil paintings, A Summertime Retreat and Autumn Rhythm will be on display alongside the other prizewinning and shortlisted works at London’s prestigious arts and culture venue, Somerset House, until 25 October 2014, before touring.

Sponsored by Towry, the Wealth Adviser, NOA is a premier open art competition in the UK, awarding over £60K in prize money this year – more than any other competition in the UK. Now in its 18th year, its main aim is to nurture artistic talent and provide a fair and open platform for young, emerging and professional artists to exhibit, sell and promote their work. A distinguished panel comprising Norman Ackroyd RA, Printmaker; Vanessa Branson, Founder Marrakech Biennale; Caroline Irby, Photographer; and Chris Orr RA, Printmaker and Draughtsman, judged the record number of works submitted for the competition this year.

NOA Vice President and internationally acclaimed artist, Gavin Turk, officially opened the exhibition on 18 September 2014, coinciding with the installation of his sculpture ‘Port’ situated in the entrance of the NOA exhibition at Embankment Galleries East, South Wing, Somerset House.

Based in London, the Scottish born First Prize winner who goes by the pseudonym ‘Mackie’ studied Illustration and Design at Edinburgh’s Telford College (1997-99). He comments: “I recall drawing from an early age; obsessively drawing and re-drawing pictures, trying to achieve perfect scale and efficient ways of devising images”. His detailed oil paintings, which have won him the title of Best Work in 2014 both depict caravans; one (Summertime Retreat) opened up to display a cosy looking library, the other (Autumn Rhythm) revealing the original Jackson Pollock masterpiece entitled Autumn Rhythm.

The panel awarded a total of 28 further prizes this year. These include The Ward Thomas Award £3,000 to Emiko Aida; The Seaward Award £2,000 to Rob Reed; The Southwood Award £1,000 to Leah Fusco; The Ward Thomas Award for an Emerging Fine Artist £1,000 to Rogan Brown; and three Prudential Awards of £5,000, £3,000 and £2,000 go to young artists Ellena Toms, Lauren Bowman and Mark Whithorn respectively.

The Photography Prizes awarded include: The Naylor Award, £5,000 to Gina Soden; The Crown Fine Art Award £3,000 to Marcus Lyon; The Ward Tomas Award £1,000 to Marta Corada; The Big Sky Award for Established Photographers £5,000 to Kim Martin; and 17 year old Isla Jones wins both the Goodwood Young Photographer’s Award (25 and under) £1,000 and the Big Sky Award for an Emerging Photographer £2,000.

The Arts Club Dover Street Award for the Finest Drawing £1,000 awarded to Carla Groppi; The Abi Slade Award for the Finest Print £1,000 to Stephen Gibbs; Chrys Allen is awarded The Gail Gower Award for a Wall Hung Installation £1,000; and two awards from Cass Art go to Thomas Allen who receives the Cass Art Award, art materials for one year, and Jean-Luc Almond who is awarded the Cass Art Commission.

An additional ten Regional Prizes, £1,000 each, were awarded to: Johny Midnight (Towry Award for the best from London); Frances Ryan (Towry Award for the best from Northern Ireland); Sarah Bellwood (Towry Award for the best from the North of England); LadyM (Towry Award for the best from the Heart of England); Alan Parker (Vanessa Whinney Award for the best from the East of England); Steph Goodger (The University of Chichester Award for the best from the South of England); Paul Thirkell (Towry Award for the best from the Southwest of England); Sarah Ball (The Aneurin Morgan Thomas Award for the best from Wales); Lyndsey Gibb (The Orrin Trust Award for the Best from Scotland); and to Paul Furneaux (The Turleton Trust Award for a Scottish Artist).

Two Visitors’ Choice Awards will be given to the artists who receive the largest number of votes from visiting members of the public for their personal opinion of the best work in both the London and Chichester exhibitions. £1,000 is awarded by both The ACS Artists Collecting Society and Richard and Val Evans.

After Somerset House the exhibition will tour to Pallant House Gallery, Chichester (2 – 14 December 2014) where the winning works will be shown alongside its extensive collection of Modern British Art. This will be followed by an exhibition of all works at the Minerva Festival Theatre, Chichester (17 December 2014 – 4 January 2015). The best works on paper will be exhibited at The Works on Paper Fair (5 – 8 February 2015) at The Science Museum.