Curated Selection Prize 2014

Curated Selection Prize 2014 Amelia Beavis-Harrison, 5 artists sit on a bench eating ice-cream, curated by Anneka French in December 2013

We reveal the winners of this year’s Curated Selection Prize ahead of the publication of their online exhibitions.


Earlier this year, we asked MA Curating, History of Art and Critical Writing students from across the country to enter our Curated Selection Prize. The brief was to take a look at the Axisweb directory and curate an online exhibition for the website. To enter they had to select a theme, find six art works connected to that theme and write up their choice for our features section.


The three winners are:

Denise Courcoux
MA Art Gallery & Museum Studies, University of Manchester

Laura Dennis
MA Curation, Norwich University of the Arts (NUA)

Anneka French
MA History of Art and Design, Birmingham City University

They will be awarded £300, one year’s Art Professional Membership and their selection will be published on Axisweb.


The selection panel

The selection panel comprised members of the Axisweb team (Sheila McGregor, Director, and Kara Chatten, Head of Audience Development) alongside Sarah Martin, Head of Exhibitions at Turner Contemporary.

Sarah says: ‘I was impressed by the wide range of creative responses to the brief, with all the selected proposals offering a very different thematic slice through Axisweb’s directory, from the archival approach of Anneka French to Laura Dennis’s focus on landscape in the digital age. This is a fantastic opportunity for the selected curators to develop their curatorial thinking by working with the Axisweb team on their proposals, as well as great way in to the directory for Axisweb readers.’


The runners-up

We also selected four runners-up who win a year’s Art Professional Membership on Axisweb:

Adam Davison
MA Art Gallery & Museum Studies, University of Manchester
View Adam's Axisweb profile >

Rachel Disbury
MA Contemporary Art Theory, Edinburgh College of Art

Elizabeth Driver
MA Art Gallery & Museum Studies, University of Manchester

WU Xiaoshuang
MSc Modern and Contemporary Art, History, Curating, Criticism, Edinburgh College of Art

 


The winners

The winning Curated Selections will be online soon. In the meantime, get to know the winners below.

Denise Courcoux
MA Art Gallery & Museum Studies, University of Manchester

Originally from Coventry, Denise moved up to Chester in 2002 to study for a BA in Fine Art with English Literature. During this time she got invaluable experience working in galleries in Liverpool. 

Since 2009, Denise has worked as Gallery Coordinator on the exhibtions programme at the Bluecoat in Liverpool. She began her MA at the University of Manchester to 'broaden her networks' and also because she 'started to miss being in a university environment, and the way it encourages you to think about things critically, something that you often don’t have time to in a busy day job'.

Denise’s winning Curated Selection is entitled Possessed and presents work which investigates fandom and personal obsessions. Denise enjoyed compiling her curated selection. She says, 'Having my writing and ideas validated by the selection panel has given me a huge confidence boost.'  

View Denise’s Axisweb profile >

See her winning selection Possessed >

 


Laura Dennis
MA Curation, Norwich University of the Arts (NUA)

Laura lives in London but is originally from Norwich and has returned to her hometown to study for her MA.

After completing a BA in History of Art from the Univeristy of Bristol in 2003, Laura worked as a curator and project manager, involved in commissioning art for the public realm. Having wanted to study for an MA for a while, she finally got the chance after a natural career break when she became a mother. She says, 'Once my daughter started nursery it seemed to be an ideal time to study for an MA.'

Laura’s winning Curated Selection is entitled Synthetic Landscapes and explores what landscape means to artists working in a digital age. The prize has been very encouraging for Laura. She says, 'I’m thrilled that the selection panel thought that my curatorial ideas would appeal to the Axisweb community, it's also helped me feel more confident about my potential as a future curator.'

View Laura’s Axisweb profile >

See her winning selection, 
Synthetic Landscapes >

 


Anneka French
MA History of Art and Design, Birmingham City University

With a BA in Fine Art and several years of independant curating under her belt, Anneka decided to embark on an MA 'to learn new skills, refine my research and have a period of time to focus on my own development'.

Based in the West Midlands, Anneka has found that her MA is connecting her with 'people in my hometown who are engaged in art and are proactive in making things happen'.

Anneka’s winning Curated Selection is entitled The Artists’ Archive. Through it she creates an archive of artists who are themselves working with archives. She says of the prize, 'I'm delighted that I can share my curatorial ideas and writing with a wider audience.'

View Anneka’s Axisweb profile >

See her winning selection, The Artists' Archive >


April 2014