Cork portraits on shortlist
Three Cork artists have been shortlisted for a prestigious prize with the winner to be commissioned to create a work for the national portrait collection.
The Cork finalists were shortlisted from hundreds of entries to this year’s AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize.
David Creedon’s photograph, ‘Miss Evans in her Sweetshop’ and Joy Kavanagh’s ‘Self-Subject; In Bloom’, an acrylic on wooden board, have been named among the 26 artists shortlisted for the AIB portrait prize, while Avni Mittal’s ‘Inner Reflection’, a piece in acrylic on canvas, has been shortlisted along with 19 other artists in the AIB Young Portrait Prize.
The AIB Portrait Prize shortlist includes painting, drawing, sculpture, video, and photography, demonstrating the breadth of contemporary Irish art.
The overall winner will receive a cash prize of €15,000 and will be commissioned to create a work for the national portrait collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000. Two additional awards of €1,500 will be given to highly commended works.
Judges for this year’s prize are Hughie O’Donoghue, artist, painter and writer; Emer McGarry, Director of The Model, Sligo; and Simon O’Connor, Director of the Museum of Literature Ireland.
The AIB Young Portrait Prize returns for its sixth outing this year. Five winners (one from each respective age category and an overall winner) will be selected from a shortlist of hundreds of entries from entrants aged three to eighteen.
Winners will receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize.
The overall competition winner will be awarded a personalised wooden box of high-quality art materials and a cash prize of €500.
All twenty shortlisted entrants for the Young Portrait Prize will have their artwork professionally framed/prepared.
This year’s AIB Young Portrait Prize judges are Ashwin Chacko, author-illustrator and motivational speaker; Emmalene Blake, visual street artist; and Sheena Barrett, Head of Research and Learning at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
Dr Caroline Campbell, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, said: “With the two prizes, we showcase the work of Irish portrait artists of all ages and encourage an interest in contemporary portraiture across the island of Ireland. The artists shortlisted for the 2024 prize demonstrate an incredible breadth of Irish artistic talent.”
Colin Hunt, Chief Executive Officer of AIB, added: “The portraits selected demonstrate the wonderful creativity and expertise of Ireland’s portrait artists of all ages.
“We are proud to be associated with such a strong and diverse selection of portraits, and very proud to sponsor these inspiring competitions.”
Exhibitions of the shortlisted works in both competitions will run at the National Gallery of Ireland from 9 November to 9 March 2025.
The winners of the prizes will be announced at a ceremony held in the National Gallery of Ireland on 27 November.