Platform Graduate Award 2018

CVAN South East is pleased to announce the selection for the Platform Graduate Award 2018. Thirty-three graduates have been chosen from across seventeen universities, representing some of the finest emerging visual artists in the South East region. Their degree show work will be exhibited in the five partner galleries – Aspex in Portsmouth, De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, Modern Art Oxford and Turner Contemporary in Margate – between September 2018 and January 2019. One artist from each gallery will be nominated for the award, with the winning artist announced on 17 November by guest selector, artist Harold Offeh.

The graduate artists are:

At Aspex in Portsmouth – Carol Abell (Arts University Bournemouth), Kane Applegate (Southampton Solent University), Fiona Baanah-Jones (Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton), Simon Beasley (University of Portsmouth), Tash Dalziel (Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton), Hannah Davies (University of Chichester), Rosie Gatford (University of Chichester), Rachel Mortlock (Arts University Bournemouth), Annie Murrells (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Farnham), Josephine Rock (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Farnham), Carl Tai Thompson (University of Portsmouth), and George Waring (Southampton Solent University).

At De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea – Tasneem Arif (University of Brighton), Godith Hawkins (University Centre Hastings), Katie Needham (University of Brighton), Oscar Yasamee (University of Hastings) and Maddalena Zadra (University of Brighton).

At MK Gallery, Milton Keynes – Bethany Holden (University of Bedfordshire), Elizabeth Leonard (University of Hertfordshire), Travis O’Connor (University of Hertfordshire), and Abbie Schug (University of Northampton).

At Modern Art Oxford – Luke Dawes (Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford), Annie Le Santo (Oxford Brookes University) and Louise Povey (University of Reading).

At Turner Contemporary, Margate – Lalita Bailey (University of Kent), Kuro D Black (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Canterbury), Kaushikee Gupta (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Canterbury), Holly Jones (Canterbury Christ Church University), Little-Blood (Alfie Killick) (University of Kent), Ty Locke (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Canterbury), Amanda Nsubuga (University of Kent), Ronan Porter (University for the Creative Arts, UCA Canterbury), and Ida Shakespeare (Canterbury Christ Church University).

Paul Hobson, Director, Modern Art Oxford and Chair, CVAN South East said:

The Platform Graduate Award enables Modern Art Oxford and our partners within the network to nurture graduate artists in the South East as they begin to establish themselves. Now in its seventh year, Platform once again shines a light on the region’s brightest talents, stimulating artist networks and revealing the high quality and diversity of practice that has emerged from seventeen participating art schools.

Exhibitions:

Modern Art Oxford, 5 September – 14 October (solo exhibition series)

Turner Contemporary, Margate, 7 September – 4 November (group exhibition)

Aspex, Portsmouth, 28 September – 30 December (group exhibition)

MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 2 – 24 November (group exhibition)

De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, 15 December – 6 January (group exhibition)

Image credit: Degree show installation, Oscar Yasamee, 2018; Excavate (with a fine tooth comb), Luke Dawes, 2018; The pain within (installation detail), Ida Shakespeare, 2018; A Tale of 50 Yards, -Letters to an unknown lover series (detail of a 9 saree installation), installation view at University for the Creative Arts, Kaushikee Gupta, 2018; Junction 14. 1979, installation view at the University of Brighton, Katie Needham, 2018; B1398 (film still), Annie Le Santo, 2018.

For more information about each artist and to download a selection of photos please visit this Dropbox folder

The Platform Graduate Award is an initiative to support emerging graduate artistic talent to further their practice following graduation. Established in 2012, the award includes a £2,500 bursary and mentoring, and is awarded to an outstanding graduate from one of sixteen participating regional higher education partners.

The initiative is led by CVAN South East (Contemporary Visual Arts Network South East) and is a partnership between five galleries: Aspex in Portsmouth, De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, Modern Art Oxford and Turner Contemporary in Margate. Following an exhibition and events programme across the five participating galleries, an artist from each gallery will be nominated for the award, with the winning artist announced in November 2018.

Platform focuses on artists in the first year after graduation; a critical time when the loss of the university support structure and financial pressures can test an artist’s dedication to their practice. For the participating galleries, this is a way to keep in touch with the most promising emerging practice, and with higher education institutions. More broadly, the scheme aims to stimulate artist networks outside of London and encourage artists to stay in the South East region.

In 2017 the Award was won by Sophie Barber a graduate of the University of Brighton’s BA (Hons) Fine Art Practice at Sussex Coast College Hastings, who was nominated by De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea. More than 61,000 people visited the Platform exhibitions across the five galleries last year. 

For information about the previous years’ winners exhibiting artists – Platform Graduate Award

For updates on previous artists (also known as the Platform Alumni) – Focus articles

Photographs of the 2017 exhibitions and award presentation – Facebook albums 

CVAN South East aims to be an effective network for the sector in the South East region by working in partnership on strategic projects and programmes, and by sharing learning and information to maximise expertise and creative thinking.

The network is concerned with developing critically engaged art practice, and dedicated to promoting a visual arts ecology that thrives on the inter-dependence of many stakeholders, including artists and art professionals, local government, higher education, not-for-profit and commercial sectors.

CVAN South East is one of the nine regional networks in England that make up CVAN (the Contemporary Visual Arts Network). CVAN South East is supported by Arts Council England.