In Search of a New World Exhibition – Southampton City Art Gallery

In Search of a New World

This exhibition features artwork by residents of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight and forms part of the Mayflower 400 programme.

2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower sailing from Southampton bound for the New World. The journey was a key event in the shaping of world history – with both negative and positive impacts. Locally, Mayflower 400 is an opportunity to celebrate Southampton, a city and a community, built on journeys and migration. Find out more here: mayflower400southampton.co.uk

To mark Southampton’s role in this momentous event, we invited artists to respond to the themes of journey, migration and the sea – all subjects that have helped to build Southampton and put the City at the forefront of many national and world changing moments.

This year saw over 450 entries with painters, sculptors, photographers and film makers interpreting the themes in a variety of original and innovative ways.

The works featured in this digital exhibition were selected by judges:

Clare Mitchell – Curator of Art at Southampton City Art Gallery

Lucy Ash – British Abstract painter whose work ‘Iris 02’ was recently acquired in to Southampton’s permanent collection.

Robert Peters – Mashpee Wampanoag artist, writer and poet.

Commenting on the submissions, the judges said:

“The open exhibition this year has come at a very testing time for us all but thankfully, everything we have been through, has not negatively impacted on peoples desire to create!

We have received a record number of entries this year: all strong and powerful in their own right, thought-provoking and both sensitive and compliant to the theme but also nodding to the ever changing global situation. The judges were very impressed with the quantity and quality this year and hope we have managed to select a broad range of depictions, styles and medium which will allow everyone to find something they like and that resonates with them.”

Image (top): Song of the Siren 1 by Natalie Dowse

The Prize Winners

FIRST PLACE

Lisa Traxler

Time Traveller – Voyager
Laser cut acrylic

First Prize sponsored by Kutis Brasserie

SECOND PLACE

Douglas Robertson

Emigrants – Wake
Carved painted wood on board

 

THIRD PLACE

Tiger Fox

Beach Clematis
Digital Photograph

THE ERIC MEADUS DRAWING PRIZE

Hilary Ball

Ice cream on the dock
Graphite on paper

PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE

Jill Gilmour

Kashmira’s Journey
Photograph

Photography Prize sponsored by London Camera Exchange

Explore the exhibition by theme

Images: Three lamps and the Pillar of Dreams by Peter Blathwayt (Journey); Somewhere Inbetween (image 2) by Juanrie Strydom (Migration); The Passing of Time by Robin Caddy (The Sea); Rise and Shine – Again by Alice McKee (Southampton); Downwind off Cape Cod by Kay Brown (Mayflower); Time Traveller – Voyager by Liza Traxler (Prizes and Commendations)

With thanks to our Prize Sponsors:

 

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