Croydon School of Art student Leanne Harrison was this week named as the winner of the annual Croydon Art Space Best Artist of the Year competition.
Artistic winner: student Leanne Harrison with her trophy at Croydon Art Space
The competition, supported by gallery owner Paul Hall, each year celebrates the best artistic talents emerging from Croydon School of Art.
In a ceremony held earlier this week at Croydon Art Space, on Lower Addiscombe Road, Harrison was presented with her trophy by author and art historian David Redfern, a member of The London Group, who are currently exhibiting at the gallery. Redfern was an arts lecturer at Croydon until 10 years ago.
The presentation event was attended by the judges, staff, friends and family of the winner.
Harrison won the prize for her triptych painting Bringing Back The Green: Resorting Nature.
One of the judging panel described Harrison’s work: “This piece presents a well-illustrated progression, starting with a sense of loss, transitioning into an awakening, and finally culminating in a green and tranquil peace.
“You can almost hear the birds singing!”
Future warning: Leanne Harrison’s winning work
In her statement about the work, Harrison described it as a plea for humanity to stop destroying the natural world. “This future tragedy everyone is talking about, this is the reality now,” she wrote.
“We are living through it, so this painting is showing people, reminding them, why we need to change. The left side is showing current damage, but the right side does not exist, and will not exist unless we change…
“People always talk negatively about the future; I believe we can change and make it even more beautiful.”
Prize moment: David Redfern, of the London Group, makes the presentation to Leanne Harrison
The artworks were selected from Croydon College’s end-of-year art and design exhibition, staged at its main campus in the town centre in June.
The exhibition consisted of qualification coursework for all Croydon School of Art student groups. From the exhibition display, Croydon Art Space’s Hall short-listed eight artworks for the College’s Best Artist of the Year competition.
The competition was judged by artists who were exhibiting in the gallery that month: Peter Clossick, Tina Crawford, Elizabeth Knapp, Galina Gumbarova, David Wolverson, Sue McGonigle, Aferdita Fazliu-Drozd, Daisy McMullan and Hall.
Harrison was on the Level 3 Art and Design Course at Croydon School of Art. She has just started a university course in fine art, and says she intends to pursue a career in art on completion of her degree. Her paintings will be exhibited in the Croydon Art Space gallery next year alongside professional artists.
The London Group’s Small Wonders exhibition at Croydon Art Space ends on December 19, but tickets for the exhibit are still available. It is free, and open for brief hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. You can book by clicking here
Read more: Plenty of wonders to be discovered in Addiscombe’s Art Space
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