The Jerwood Drawing Prize
Machine Dreams, 2004 by Gordon CheungThe Jerwood Drawing Prize exhibition was established in 1994 and has been held annually since 1996. It was originally established as a successor project to the pilot annual national drawing exhibition established as the Rexel Derwent Open Drawing by the Malvern Drawing Associates and known as the Cheltenham Open Drawing exhibition until 2001 when the Jerwood Charitable Foundation became the principal benefactors.
The project was initiated to promote the discipline of drawing, provide a forum for the exhibition of current drawing practice and to gain knowledge and understanding about drawing through a ‘survey’ of artists currently making work in the discipline and to situate this discourse within the academic and research context of the art school.
The exhibition aims to promote and reward excellence and talent in contemporary drawing practice through the support and recognition of the work of all artists in the field of drawing, including that of established artists and that of emerging artists engaged in the discipline of drawing. After ten years, this is now the longest running annual exhibition in the UK dedicated to current drawing practice, and is open to submission by all artists, resident or domiciled in the UK. The exhibitions now receive between 2,300 and 2,650 entries per year. Original works are submitted for peer and expert review by a distinguished selection panel with substantial expertise in drawing.
Every year, the changing panel of distinguished artists, writers, critics, collectors and curators select the show independently and without knowledge of the artists submitting; they define their own priorities for an exhibition of current drawing practice. This fashions a constantly shifting set of values and concerns, evidenced in the resulting touring exhibitions, in which fundamental questions are asked about what drawing is: its purpose, value, relevance and nature.
An electronic archive of previous winners is located at The Jerwood Visual Arts website http://www.jerwoodvisualarts.org/drawing/
