EMERGING ARTISTS AWARD

As one of its primary operating initiatives, BEERS London artist support program has always believed in nurturing emerging artists and celebrating excellence in emerging contemporary art; devised as a plan to create a platform for recognition and exposure for underexposed artists, The Award for Emerging Art was a call for submissions open to artists internationally.

The resulting eight artists were selected from over 1500 worldwide submissions, and judged on criteria such as progression, innovation, and excellence in four artistic fields: Painting & Drawing; Photography & Other Two Dimensional Media; Sculpture & Installation; and lastly, Video, Performance, & New Media Forms.First and second prize winners were each awarded with 1,000USD and 250USD respectively, plus inclusion in the Award Exhibition in early 2013.

Scott Carter, first place winner of the Sculpture and Installation field, whose work reshapes the contemporary gallery space by literally excavating sections of the gallery plasterboard and creating works from those excavated pieces, was invited for a solo exhibition at the gallery in 2014. Øystein Dahlstrøm, first place winner of the Photography and Other Two-Dimensional Media field, will exhibit in a two-person exhibition with sculptor Amir Fattal in spring 2013.

ØYSTEIN DAHLSTRØM

Øystein Dahlstrøm (b. 1976, Norway) PHOTOGRAPHY & OTHER TWO DIMENSIONAL MEDIA [DIGITAL]
Dahlstrøm’s work focuses on that which is not always pleasant but prefers to render incomplete emotions and distorted states-of-being through the computer-generated image. For Dahlstrøm, this pursuit is not meant to appease: there remains an element of dissatisfaction upon viewing, like the lurking feeling of guilt when something has been forgotten. His subjects are typically these anti-spaces: corners, ruins, cement-planes, broken windows, open doors and bleak entrances. The absence of material does not necessarily mean an absence of meaning, or beauty; for these landscapes are beautiful in the sublime or uncanny sense. Dahlstrøm is based in Norway, and he holds a MA from the Bergen Academy of Fine Art (2006).

ROMEN GOUVEIA

Romen Gouveia (b. 1972, Brazil) PHOTOGRAPHY
Gouveia investigates traditional photography techniques and theories through and in digital imagery; his kaleidescopic forms are created by using “fractal geometry”, a form of geometry discovered in the 17th century but truly expounded upon in the early 1980s through the usage of higher-tech computer software. It involves setting up and photographing a layer of 3D forms, this image is then used as the base for another 3D layer, which in turn is photographed and used as a base for the next layer. Gouveia’s work is focused on exploring painterly theories, such as form, light, textures and space, and are created using complex laboratory procedures Gouveia continues to research and explore. He is a 2011 graduate of Camberwell College of the Arts and lives and works in London.

SCOTT CARTER

Scott Carter (b.1984, USA) SCULPTURE & INSTALLATION
Carter is influenced by the experience of living amongst mass produced materials, spaces and objects that are inherent in contemporary architecture and design. His work manifests as immersive installations and interactive objects that facilitate subtle shifts in value and attempt to redefine utility in relation to everyday experiences. His practice parallels contemporary discourse in art, design, architecture and sound.In short, Carter’s methods are both performative and sculptural: he reshapes the contemporary gallery space by literally excavating sections of the gallery drywall (or floor) and reconstructing a new sculpture or installation from those pieces. He lives and works in Chicago, where he received an MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011.

GABRIELE DAWE

Gabriele Dawe (b. 1973, Canadian) SCULPTURE & INSTALLATION
Dawe’s site-specific installations explore the connection between the textile and the architectural space. The works take the form of large-scale installations and are reactionary upon the exhibition space, in which Dawe can be seen as ‘drawing’ with colored threads to create gradients in three-dimensional space. His work has been exhibited in the US, Canada, Belgium, and the UK. After living in Montreal, Canada for 7 years, he moved to Dallas, Texas, where he obtained his MFA at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he is presently based. Jack West (b. 1988, United Kingdom) VIDEO & NEW MEDIA Intrigued by the languid but mechanical elegance of the ‘Nodding Donkey’ – a grandiose pumpjack found on oil fields across the globe – West drew parallels to the bowing of prayer. Seemingly working ‘backwards’, West’s process was to create a maquette first in his outdoor workspace, followed by a ‘video sculpture’ of three nodding donkeys ‘at prayer’. The resulting kinetic sculpture furthers this exploration, where the rhythmic grazing of chains against concrete is mechanical, sensory, and allegorical, hinting even the flagellation found in extreme acts of worship. In many ways, the work references mechanical society’s hypnotic dependency moving from the deity to the substantial. The work is thusly inherently political, recalling acts of utter destruction in the name of oil, a process that mirrors the effect of religion across the ages. With a practice that encompasses video, sculpture, and painting, West’s scope of vision seems almost endless. He is a graduate of Chelsea College of Art and lives and works in London.

MAREN JUELL KRISTENSEN

Maren Juell Kristensen (1976, Norway) VIDEO INSTALLATION Through her beguiling videos and video-based installations, Kristensen aims to make associations through a series of visual systems, societal norms, and language formations. Kristensen is interested in the way that – as humans – we judge fiction and reality using films, literature and science as references to create symbolic meaning. In this search for coherence, Kristensen uses both conventions of narrative and documentary to confound and play with the viewer’s expectations, all the while exploring and subverting answers, patterns, and truths. Kristensen has shown her work in Norway’s leading fine art institute, The Astrup Fernley Museum of Modern Art, as well as a number of esteemed gallery spaces. She lives and works in Norway.