BP Portrait Award Exhibition

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The BP Portrait Award exhibition returns to the National Portrait Gallery, offering the chance to see the works of some of the country’s best contemporary portrait artists brought together in London.

Contemporary art in London
The award, sponsored by BP, is an enormously successful annual event aimed at encouraging young artists to focus on and develop their portrait skills. The competition is open to any artist under the age of 40 and this year’s BP Portrait Award features a range of styles from a varied group of artists, collected in a unique exhibition.

BP Portrait Award winner
The winner of the 2011 BP Portrait Award was Wim Heldens who submitted a painting of his young friend Jeroen. The winning portrait, Distracted, was one of several paintings the artist has done of his subject, having first captured him on canvas at the age of seven. Jeroen is a philosophy student, who is described as always wearing black and grey, and has been portrayed in a simple style with natural light.

BP Portrait Award shortlist 2012
This year's BP Portrait Award exhibition includes four shortlisted portraits, and feature intimate and personal works from Aleah Chapin from America, with her nude portrait of a close family friend, entitled Auntie; Alan Coulson from London, who has painted a fellow artist and friend Richie Culver; Ignacio Estudillo, from Spain who has painted his paternal grandfather in oils, in a piece entitled El abuelo; and Jamie Routley from Wales who has painted a triptych of newstand seller Tony Lewis who works at Baron's Court Tube Station. In previous years the exhibition has been the launching pad for the careers of a younger generation of artists and this year the award has been just as popular with artists, and will no doubt be even more popular with visitors.

Cultured days out
Art fans can enjoy an exclusive collection of works at the National Portrait Gallery this summer, showcasing the latest in contemporary portraiture. Over 2,300 entrants submitted works to the competition last year and visitors to the gallery can see a selection of the very best throughout the summer. And if that's not enough, visitors can also see the works of the 2011 BP Travel Award winner Jo Fraser, who has created works based on his travels to the Cuzco region of Peru to observe the loubour intensive textile production outlets.

The BP Portrait Award runs at the National Portrait Gallery, from 10am - 6pm (Thu-Fri until 9pm) Thursday 21st June - Sunday 23rd September 2012. Entrance is free.

[italics]Richie Culver, by Alan Coulson, 2012.[/italics]