Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize exhibitions open 26 November 2022 at National Gallery of Ireland
- Exhibitions run in Dublin and Letterkenny in 2022 and 2023.
- 26 artists shortlisted for Zurich Portrait Prize, 20 artists shortlisted for Zurich Young Portrait Prize.
The Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize exhibitions 2022 open on Saturday 26 November 2022 at the National Gallery of Ireland. From hundreds of entries, the shortlists of this year’s Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize go on display in the Portrait Gallery. Twenty-six artists, working across a variety of media, have made it through to the final stage of the Zurich Portrait Prize, while 20 young artists aged between four and eighteen years old have been shortlisted for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize.
The winner of the Zurich Portrait Prize 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 the Zurich Portrait Prize are Diana Copperwhite, artist; Nick Miller, artist; and Anna O'Sullivan, Director of the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny.
Brendan Rooney, Head Curator, National Gallery of Ireland, said, “Now in its ninth consecutive year, the Portrait Prize continues to celebrate the talent that flourishes among artists working in Ireland and Irish artists abroad. This year, the National Gallery of Ireland is delighted to showcase portraits by twenty-six remarkable artists. These works were shortlisted from hundreds of submissions, as high in quality as they were disparate in character. As we emerge from two years of pandemic, portraiture helps to remind us of the fundamental importance of human interaction and engagement.”
The Zurich Young Portrait Prize returns for its fourth year in 2022. Five winners (one from each respective age category and an overall winner) will be selected from a shortlist of hundreds of entries from young people aged four to 18 from across the island of Ireland. Winners will receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize. The overall competition winner will be awarded a wooden box of high-quality art materials, and a cash prize of €500. All twenty shortlisted entrants will have their artwork professionally framed and prepared for display. This year’s Zurich Young Portrait Prize judges are: Janet McLean, Curator of Modern Art, National Gallery of Ireland; Nick Roche, comic illustrator; and Una Sealy RHA, artist.
Exhibitions of shortlisted works in both competitions run at the National Gallery of Ireland between 26 November 2022 and 2 April 2023. The exhibition will then travel to the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, where it will be displayed between 3 June and 2 September 2023.
Shortlisted artists for the Zurich Portrait Prize 2022 at the National Gallery of Ireland:
- Rachel Ballagh (Cork), Back Garden, 2021, Photograph
- Zsolt Basti (Dublin), Megan and Ophelia, 2021, Oil on canvas
- Shane Blount (Wicklow), Lately I've Been Seeing Rainbows, 2022, Oil on canvas
- Patrick Bolger (Dublin / Wicklow), Louise Kennedy, 2022, Photograph
- David Booth (Dublin), Salvatore, 2021, Oil on board
- Enda Burke (Galway), Deirdre by the Window, 2021, Photograph
- Aisling Coughlan (Dublin), Dead Dad, 2021, Oil on wood panel
- Catherine Creaney (Tyrone), Care, Oil on linen, 2021
- David Creedon (Cork), Rustam Saidaliev – Sanctuary in a New Land, 2022, Photograph
- Ian Cumberland (Down), 14314 days, 2022, Oil on linen
- Barry Delaney (Dublin), Forty Footer, 2021 Photograph
- Aodán Feeney (Galway), Dead Weight, 2022, Oil on canvas
- Alexis Pearse Flynn (London), Self-portrait five days after vaccination, 2021, Oil on gessoed board
- Vanessa Jones (Dublin), HoMi Hand Plow (self-portrait), 2020, Oil on canvas
- Bernadette Kiely (Kilkenny) An artist becomes their work – portrait of Paul Mosse in his studio, 2021, Oil on canvas
- Vera Klute (Kilkenny), Self-Portrait, 2020, Oil on plywood
- Gavin Leane (Dublin), Several Days Hence, 2022, Photograph
- Emily Mc Gardle (Monaghan), Rictus, 2022, Coloured pencil, pencil and pen on paper
- Fiach McGuinne (Dublin), MacDara, 2022, Oil and acrylic on canvas
- Tom McLean, (Galway), Cocoon, 2022, Oil on linen
- Mick O'Dea (Dublin), At Dysert O’Dea, 2020, Oil on canvas
- Liz Purtill (Kerry), Dermot, 2022, Egg tempera on aluminium panel
- Cara Rose (Dublin), Double Self Portrait, 2021, Coloured pencil on paper
- Sorcha Frances Ryder (Dublin), My Bedroom As A Depressed College Graduate (Self-portrait), 2022, Photograph
- Marie Smith, (Cavan) Stephanie, 2022, Fired clay on wooden stand
- Marc O'Sullivan Vallig (Cork), Alex, 2021, Oil on canvas
Shortlisted artists for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize 2022 at the National Gallery of Ireland:
- Katie Cashin (Clare), My friend Olivia, Clay, bottle, paint, marbles, wool, beads
- Zara Craig (Antrim), Study by Candlelight, Oil on canvas
- Páidí Daly (Meath), Me and My Daddy, Paint on canvas
- Cassandra Dennehy (Dublin), My Favourite Coat and Hat, Acrylic paint on paper
- P.J. Doherty (Donegal), Focus, Coloured pencils on paper
- Sean Fitzpatrick (Wexford), Constructing Ella, Pencil and charcoals on paper
- Haochen Gao (Dublin), I Like Balls, Oil pastels on canvas
- Viktoria Kroejeva (Clare), Day Out, Oil and acrylic paint on canvas
- James Cowley Lane (Meath), Macdara, Macdara, Plaster powder, clay
- Jiayi Lu (Dublin), Sunny Morning, Pencil and acrylic on paper
- Ross McHale, (Kildare), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Oil on canvas
- Red Redican, (Kildare), Bailey’s Life Is A Highway, Watercolour paint and pen on paper
- Cathal Ryan (Clare), Bullman, Acrylic Paint on Card
- Róisín Ryan (Cork), Me in the stars, Marker on paper
- Meilin Ava Song (Dublin), New Beginning, Paint on canvas
- Aoife Sweeney (Clare), Pastel Sky, Acrylic paint on Card
- Pierre Gaultier Swords, (Cavan), Self-Portrait of Pierre, Oil pastels and markers on paper
- Freya Wilkinson (Meath), Self-Portrait, Oil on paper
- Grace Yu (Dublin), My Mum, Pencil on paper
- Yujin Zhu (Dublin), Fred, Colouring pencils on paper
Neil Freshwater, CEO of Zurich, said “Zurich Insurance plc is delighted to see the 2022 shortlist exhibitions on display. These artworks represent the unique viewpoint of the best of Ireland’s portrait artists, and the wealth of burgeoning talent of our young artists. We look forward to seeing the exhibitions continue at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny in June 2023.”