Saturday, October 08, 2016

Mike Pratt wins the Koninklijke Prijs - The Royal Award for Modern Painting, Holland

Mike Pratt, Hat, 2016, Wax, resin, oil paint and Styrofoam, 175 x 188 cm, Courtesy of the artist and Workplace, UK

WORKPLACE is delighted to congratulate British artist Mike Pratt on winning the Koninklijke Prijs voor Vrije Schilderkunst 2016

 

This prestigious Royal Award for Modern Painting was presented by King Willem-Alexander of Holland to four young artists yesterday afternoon. An exhibition of the prize-winning paintings along with works by twenty other contenders is on show at Koninklijk Paleis Amsterdam until 16 November. 

 

The jury said of Mike's work: 

 

"Pratt’s submission demonstrates vision. His three dimensional works are composed of silicon, epoxy and styrofoam. Still, because of their colourful surfaces, they can be considered part of the domain of painting. The messy combination of material and colour is simply delightful and refers to Bad Painting. What is more it’s impossible to see the objects other than in the framework of art history. With an ear (Vincent van Gogh) and a urinal (Marcel Duchamp) Pratt puts himself forward with possibly the two most talked-about ‘objects’ from modern art history. The jury appreciates the courage and the knowledge that this demonstrates."

 

The Koninklijke Prijs is annually presented to encourage talented young painters active in the Netherlands.

The Award was instituted in 1871 by HM King William III. After King William III it was continued by Queen Emma, Queen Wilhelmina, Queen Juliana and Queen Beatrix. They turned this into a true royal tradition. In the year 2013 King Willem-Alexander continued this tradition by presenting the Award in the Royal Palace Amsterdam.

 

For further information regarding Mike Pratt's work please contact: miles@workplacegallery.co.uk

Mike Pratt, Love Songs Dedicated to the Back of Somebody's Head, 2016, Workplace Gateshead

Mike Pratt was born in 1987 in Seaham, North East England. He graduated from Northumbria University in 2009 where he was awarded the Paul Mason Sculpture Prize, and in 2014 he completed a two-year postgraduate programme at De Ateliers in Amsterdam, Netherlands where he currently lives and works. Solo exhibitions include: Love Songs Dedicated to the Back of Somebody’s Head, Workplace Gateshead; A Deeper Pond, Galerie Juliette Jongma, Amsterdam; Rubberhead/Rubbernecking B.M.W. Edinburgh; Good Mourning Bell Workplace Gateshead; Cumberland Sausage Extraspazio, Rome; and HUBBA HUBBA, Satellite, Newcastle. Group Exhibitions include Satellite Satellite Workplace London; Offspring de Ateliers, Amsterdam; Riff/Rift Baltic39, Newcastle upon Tyne; Right Eye, Left Eye V8 Plattform für neue Kunst, Karlsruhe, Germany; Theatrical Dynamics Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles, USA; Jesmonite on Paper Malgras Naudet, Manchester; Nice Paintings Grundy Art Gallery, Captain of all Pleasures EMBASSY Gallery Edinburgh, Some people deserve everything they get The Royal Standard, Liverpool.
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