JOAP 2016

Jackson’s Open Art Prize Longlist Announced!

Thank you to everyone who entered work into the inaugural Jackson’s Open Art Prize 2016. We’re delighted to announce that the results of the first round have been decided!

We received an incredible 3100 entries, showing off amazing technique, subject matter, sensitivity, imagination, innovation, and skill. The standard of work made reducing them to the ‘long-list’ of 410 very difficult indeed. To give you an idea of the enormity of the number of entries, if you spent 60 seconds looking at each image it would take you 52 hours solid to look at every one! But after serious deliberation and discussion, we’re pleased to announce below the long-list of entries through to the next round, we hope that you are on it. We have sent an email to those of you that have been longlisted.

If you are not on this list please do not be disheartened, your work may still be shared and seen by thousands. There were so many amazing entries that we will be sharing a selection of these with you over the coming months on our Social Media platforms, including those not on the long-list. We were amazed by both the diversity and quality of the entries we received and we’re sure that you too will be impressed and inspired by what we share.

This is the first time we’ve run a competition of this scale, and we’re learning a lot in the process. We’ve been thrilled to receive entries from all around the world. However an online competition is not without its drawbacks and we know that it’s not easy for every entrant to deal with the technical side of things. We also appreciate that the quality of some of the entries may have been compromised by photographs that didn’t do the work justice. Still, we feel it’s important to stay an online-only competition so that our far-flung customers have just as good a chance as those based in the UK, and to help those who had difficulty this time we’ll be posting some great articles on how to take pictures that show your artwork in the best light possible.

For now, though, it’s time for our expert judges panel to get judging! Thank you so much for taking part, and we look forward to revealing the judge’s short-list on 29th April 2016.

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Comments
  • Sunny 15 April 2016 at 2:48 pm

    Is there an actual list rather than 14 pages of entries? I’m assuming emails went to those shortlisted?

    • Christine Holland 15 April 2016 at 3:13 pm

      Hi there,

      Unfortunately this is the only way we could get all the entries for everyone to see visually. We did email all those that were longlisted but if you didn’t receive an email please do not be disheartened, your work may still be shared and seen by thousands. We are planning on sharing entries on social media over the coming months! Thank you for taking the time to enter and hopefully you will enter again when Jackson’s Open Art Prize returns for 2017.

      Kindest Regards,

      Christine

      • Raymond Archibald 16 April 2016 at 10:31 am

        HELLO THERE I AM RAY A SUNSHINING, MOST OF MY TIME IS SPENT SO I HAVE NOT MUCH LEFT, I AM 66 YEARS OLD IN 2016.

        UNFORTUNATLY I HAVE NOT MADE AN ENTRY FOR A LONG LIST,

        I HAVE PURCHASED AN EASLE FORM JACKSONS ART SUPPLIES TODAY THIS WILL BE MORE UPRIGHT STANDING PAINTING.

        HELLO NOW GOODBY I HAVE ENJOYED THE COMPITITION, RAY

        • Christine Holland 18 April 2016 at 2:13 pm

          Hi Raymond,

          Thank you for getting in touch and letting us know that you are using our easel for painting. Do make sure you share with us your painting when it is complete!

          Many thanks, Christine

      • Peter Baker 19 April 2016 at 7:48 pm

        Hi Christine,
        A lot of good work but not enough time to browse through it completely. Any chance you could publish just a list of the names in alphabetical order by surname? It would be good to see if any of my fellow artists have been listed but are too modest to say?
        Kind Regards,
        Peter Baker (not long listed)

        • Sophie Pinchetti 20 April 2016 at 9:28 am

          Dear Peter, Thanks for your message. The long-list is currently only published in the above article format (artworks, artists and artist’s statement about their work). We hope you have a chance to browse through the artworks and discover the artists in the long-list! Many thanks and best wishes from Jackson’s Art.

  • Jane 15 April 2016 at 6:55 pm

    Congratulations everyone, beautiful works.

  • Vicky Birkett 15 April 2016 at 8:33 pm

    What a fantastic body of work, an absolute pleasure to see……Pure inspiration !

  • S 15 April 2016 at 9:20 pm

    Many of these pieces are stunning, are they for sale at any time?

    • Julie Caves 16 April 2016 at 8:11 am

      If you are interested in an artwork the artist’s name is on the work and you might be able to find them on the Internet.
      We will be interviewing some of the artists on our blog over the next few months so there will be website links for those artists. I think next time we should have everyone give a link.
      If you are interested in a particular work please email competitions@jacksonsart.co.uk and we can put you in touch with the artist.

  • Ben walker 15 April 2016 at 9:22 pm

    Most of these are illustrations, there are very few paintings. Please get judges who are interested in painting

    • Julie Caves 16 April 2016 at 8:21 am

      Hi Ben
      The long list reflects well the assortment of work we received. There are many paintings in the selection.
      It is always going to be hard to judge work based on a digital photo.

  • cassandra 16 April 2016 at 12:16 am

    Good luck in selecting a winner! So much wonderful work. Will there be categories to make it fairer?

    • Julie Caves 16 April 2016 at 10:01 am

      Hi Cassandra.
      Thanks, we are very pleased!
      We might do categories next year but have not created them for this year.

  • Gudrun Ståhl Sharpley 16 April 2016 at 7:58 am

    What an excellent, exciting and varied selection of art.

  • Gudrun Ståhl Sharpley 16 April 2016 at 8:17 am

    ps. I am enjoying the opportunity to have a look at all these amazing paintings. It’s a real treat. A list of names would be much less exciting, so thank you for posting the images.

    • Julie Caves 16 April 2016 at 10:03 am

      Hi Gudrun.
      Thanks, we agree!

      Since it’s about the art we thought a gallery of the work was the way to go.

  • Dee Crowe 16 April 2016 at 1:07 pm

    Thanks Jacksons!Im so pleased to have made the long list!I tried tagging you on my FB post but couldn’t!How can I do that?

  • Carol brown 16 April 2016 at 3:54 pm

    Images are good to see but some of the art-speak is yuk!

    • Julie Caves 16 April 2016 at 5:10 pm

      Hi Carol, glad to hear you enjoyed the art. We are quite happy with the selection.

      About the so-called ‘art speak’ you mention –

      Many people dismiss an artist’s words as ‘art speak’ with an implication that the words are either pretending to be greater than they are or are outright trickery and lies to see how much the artist can fool you.

      When someone tries to use words to talk about difficult ideas I always give them the benefit of the doubt. I assume they are trying to find words to articulate their ideas. After all, if you could say it in words why would you go to all that trouble to paint it (or sculpt or dance)? To paraphrase the saying: ‘Writing about art is like dancing about architecture’. Not all visual artists are great with words, and they are often trying to communicate something they can’t put into words.

      Another thing to consider: I have found that most of the time someone calls some words ‘art speak’ those words are actually intellectual and hard to understand, because they are talking about big ideas with big words. If a physicist talks about big ideas and you don’t understand you assume it’s your fault that you don’t understand. But if an artist writes something intellectual that is difficult to understand people call it ‘art speak’. Artists can be well-educated intellectuals who use long words to talk about big ideas. If you don’t understand what someone has written, maybe you just don’t understand it. Maybe it’s over your head.

      Also artists will have jargon amongst themselves, like plumbers or physicists, as any profession does. For people who don’t understand those words there are plenty of art theory and history books they can read if they don’t wish to attend an art school.

      And finally, not all artists see it as a vocation. For artists who see it as a hobby and their art as decoration for the wall, there is no ‘big idea’ behind their work. They make lovely things, find relaxation and enjoy themselves, and that makes the world a better place. The mansion of art has many rooms. But don’t forget that some artists are trying to achieve something more, and their work may have many layers of meaning or a context, and knowing that may give the viewer a richer experience. That has to be good, right?

      About the work in this competition- As an international competition we have hundreds of artists for whom English is not their first language. (But still their English is better than my Lithuanian.) It could be possible that some of the difficulty you are having with the text is down to a bit of a translation issue.

      Oh, and wonderfully in this competition we have a few artists who are also poets! Poetry, as another art form, might add to your discomfort with the text.

      • Carol brown 17 April 2016 at 8:26 pm

        Obviously a touchy subject for you. Your reply says it all.

        • Julie Caves 28 April 2016 at 5:46 pm

          Hi again Carol.
          I had hoped it was clear that it is a subject dear to my heart, but I didn’t mean to come across as touchy, that was not my intention.
          Given that I am interested in the subject I tried to give a full yet concise reply. Thank you for taking the time to read it.

      • Jonathan Dickson 19 April 2016 at 10:48 am

        Thank you so very much for selecting my work for your long list
        I’m absolutely thrilled to be included with so much wonderful and inspiring work…!! I’m really enjoying looking at all of it… it’s taking a while but well worth it!

      • Helen 21 April 2016 at 11:04 am

        Hi Julie – that is beautifully succinct and definitely needed to be said. In addition I would say that it is not difficult to spot the people who are faking the language and they should not distract us from our efforts to understand those who are genuinely trying to articulate important and often quite abstract ideas. Bravo! Onwards and upwards…

        • Julie Caves 21 April 2016 at 5:14 pm

          Thanks Helen! Yes, that would be a very good addition.
          Thanks again!

  • Liz Chaderton 20 April 2016 at 9:53 am

    What an amazing selection of work (with plenty of paintings as well as illustrations, which is a very artificial distinction in any case – see earlier person’s comment) – cannot even start to imagine the judging process. I am not sure whether I am inspired or intimidated by the ideas and expression (as a non-listed entrant). And I LOVE your comments on art-speak. I may have to cut and paste those next time someone gives me grief. Can’t wait to see the short list.

    • Julie Caves 20 April 2016 at 12:26 pm

      Hi Liz
      It is a great list, isn’t it!
      I agree, no one can give anything like a clear distinction between painting and illustration.
      Thank you for your vote of confidence for my writing about the error of dismissing artists words as art-speak. I think it is an important topic.

  • jo cain 20 April 2016 at 6:01 pm

    I was not successful this time, however there is some stunning work..congratulations to the artists and good luck to all!

    • Christine Holland 21 April 2016 at 9:53 am

      Thank you for entering Jo, we definitely agree that there is some stunning work! We are planning on sharing entries across our social media channels over the next few months so please keep an eye out, hope to see you enter again when Jackson’s Open Art Prize returns for 2017. Many thanks, Christine

  • Doreen Ludlow 20 April 2016 at 7:23 pm

    I have spent some considerable time looking at all the work in your final ‘long list’ – such an eclectic mix and some really amazing work! Congratulations for instigating this competition. It will be a difficult decision to choose a winner!

    (Re the ‘art speak’ – I do find this something of a turn off. Painting is a visual medium and should be allowed to speak for itself.)

    • Christine Holland 21 April 2016 at 9:57 am

      That’s what we loved too Doreen, the mix of mediums and subject matter was far beyond what we had hoped for! I’m glad I don’t have to pick a winner, that will be up to our expert judges to do that.

      That is the beauty of art, it’s open to opinion and no-ones answer is right or wrong 🙂

      Many thanks, Christine

  • lindsay plant 21 April 2016 at 3:42 pm

    Really pleased to be chosen for the long list, it is going to be a hard call, some amazing pieces of work to choose from.
    Lindsay Plant

  • Anna Smolander 28 April 2016 at 7:15 pm

    Thank you so much for selecting my work for the long list. This is such an honour considering how many talented artists entered this year! I’m now nervously waiting for the shortlist to be revealed. To get this far is amazing! Good luck everybody!

  • Rachel 28 April 2016 at 9:17 pm

    I have been taking my time looking through all of these pieces (so much so that I have only just finished today!) and I feel that I have learnt so much from them. There are so many stunning pieces here and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed taking a closer look at them and reading the artists’ comments. This was my first competition and although I wasn’t long-listed (I didn’t really expect to be, but it was very exciting waiting for the announcement anyway!), I’ve learnt so much from those who were. I feel really inspired and am already trying to put this new sense of determination to improve to use on my current painting. I aspire to the level of quality displayed by so many of these pieces and look forward to entering the competition again next year! I’m also looking forward to the short list announcement tomorrow – I can’t imagine how hard it must be to whittle these down!

    Congratulations to all of the long-listers 🙂

    • Christine Holland 4 May 2016 at 9:30 am

      Hi Rachel,

      That’s exactly what we were hoping for, we are glad that the competition has provided a source of inspiration for other artists. After all, we can learn so much from looking at other peoples working practices and I’m pleased to see it has made you more determined to continue improving. It definitely does make a difference to see other artworks in relation to your own, especially as sometimes we can get so focused on our own work we forget to see the bigger picture. Our winners will be announced on Friday 13th and we look forward to receiving your entry when the competition returns in 2017 🙂

  • Daggi Wallace 7 May 2016 at 8:51 pm

    I’m thrilled to find out by chance that I made the long list! I had no idea because I never received an email but a gallery who saw my work on the list contacted me, so THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Even though I didn’t make the shortlist I’m ecstatic and honored:)

    • Christine Holland 9 May 2016 at 11:14 am

      Hi Daggi,

      Sorry to hear that you didn’t receive an email – we did make sure that we emailed everyone that made the longlist, it may have gone into your junk folder or your email address may have been incorrectly recorded. The standard of entries has been amazing, glad to hear that you are happy! We will be sharing entries throughout the year on social media so your work, although it didn’t make the shortlist could still be seen, shared and appreciated by thousands. Many thanks 🙂