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Loughborough student to exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery
Posted on 01/05/2008
P. Klein
For the first time ever a portrait by a Loughborough University School of Art and Design (LUSAD) student has been selected to go on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Benjamin Cohen, a second year Fine Art student, entered his work into the gallery’s BP Portrait Award, an annual competition aimed at encouraging artists to focus upon and develop the theme of portraiture in their work.
The competition is open to everyone aged 18 and over and with a substantial first prize of £25,000 it has been the launch pad for the careers of a number of successful portrait artists. Recent winners and their commissions include Stuart Pearson Wright (2001) who painted J.K. Rowling, Catherine Goodman (2002) who painted Dame Cicely Saunders and Charlotte Harris (2003) who painted Dame Vivien Duffield.
The competition is judged on an anonymous basis from original paintings and an exhibition is then created from a selection of the entries. Benjamin’s portrait is one of the entries shortlisted for the award and will form part of the competition exhibition, appearing at the National Portrait Gallery from 12 June to 14 September 2008. The overall winner will be selected in June.
The oil on canvas work, entitled ‘John’, is 2m by 1.4m in size. It is of a Loughborough man who works at the Book Company in Loughboroughs Market Street. Benjamin met him whilst out trawling the streets looking for an inspiring subject to paint.
Speaking about his selection to appear at the National Portrait Gallery, he said: “For such a young artist to be given the opportunity to exhibit in one of the most prestigious art galleries in the world is totally astonishing and, at the moment, it hasn’t really sunk in. The National Portrait Gallery have kick started my career as an artist and I wish to thank them.”
Johanna Hallsten, LUSAD’s Programme Coordinator in Fine Art added: “The Fine Art department would like to congratulate Ben Cohen on his success in being selected for the BP Portrait Award exhibition. This is a fantastic recognition that Ben is a talented painter and we expect he will go on to achieve further successes in the contemporary art world.”
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