The shortlist has been announced for the ninth annual Catlin Art Prize, which aims to promote the work of emerging artists in their first year after graduation from the UK’s art schools. The finalists’ work has been selected from The Catlin Guide 2015 and the selected artists will receive mentoring and production assistance to encourage an ambitious exhibition produced to the highest standards.

The shortlisted artists are Jon Baker (Chelsea College of Arts), Felicity Hammond (Royal College of Art), Oliver Hickmet (City & Guilds of London Art School), Nicholas Johnson (Royal College of Art), Paul Schneider (Royal Academy of Arts), Lexi Strauss (Royal College of Art), Dominic Watson (The Glasgow School of Art) and Zhu Tian (Royal College of Art). One of them will be awarded the £5,000 prize on May 13 following a judging panel’s decision. There will also be a public vote via a ballot box in the exhibition space, with the Visitors’ Vote prize being worth £2,000.

The Catlin Guide is an introduction to the 40 most promising new graduate artists in the UK, as recommended by a wide survey of curators, art writers, collectors, gallerists and course tutors. The guide and the exhibition are supported by the specialist art insurance underwriter The Catlin Group Ltd. All the finalists have been selected for their potential to make a significant mark on the art world over the next decade. Many previous Catlin Art Prize finalists are already building successful careers nationally and internationally. The 2014 prize-winner, painter Neil Raitt, has gone on to complete a successful residency and solo exhibition at the Goss-Michael Foundation in Dallas. He is currently preparing for a solo exhibition with Los Angeles-based gallery Anat Ebgi.

Sculptor Virgile Ittah, also a 2014 Catlin Prize finalist, was awarded the Royal British Society for Sculptors Bursary in the same year. Her Catlin Prize installation – two wax figures and pair of cast iron beds (Echoue au seuil de la Raison) – was acquired by Charles Saatchi and will be featured in the Saatchi Gallery’s Autumn 2015 show, A Woman’s Hand.

The venue for the show is Londonewcastle Project Space, a gallery and exhibition space in Shoreditch created by property brand Londonewcastle as a platform for creatives and artists. The Catlin Art Prize, until 20 May, Londonewcastle Project Space, 28 Redchurch Street, London. For more information visit www.artcatlin.com

Credits
1. Nicholas Johnson, Crazed Flowering Installation. Courtesy of the artist and The Catlin Art Prize.