The UK’s most important open exhibition for drawing, the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, revealed the 2020 awards during an online ceremony on Wednesday 13 January. 

From 4,274 entries submitted from around the world, 71 drawings by artists, architects and designers were selected for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition. Four prizes totalling £17,000, and three Special Commendations, were awarded by the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 selection panel, Ian McKeever RA, artist, Sophia Yadong Hao, Principal Curator of Cooper Gallery, and Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern.

“It is unusual to have the opportunity to see a broad spectrum of drawing which the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize allows” says Ian McKeever RA “One marvels at the breadth of touch, process, image, rigour, and even humour, artists are able to conjure up through the simple act of drawing.” According to Sophia Yadong Hao, “so many of the works reveal the fragility and ambiguity of our interaction, concern for, and absolute involvement with this moment of the world, the body, and above all, with the possibilities of mark making as a language, that tells us everything about our humanity and the world we dwell in.”

For the first time in the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize’s history, the First Prize of £8,000 was awarded to a performative drawing: M.Lohrum’s You are It. Between drawing, installation and performance, this collaborative piece challenges the individual notion of authorship by emphasising collectivity and collaboration. Participants were invited to follow these rules: ‘Walk along the paper. Draw circles with your arm. Stop below the lights. Resume your march when other participant touches your shoulder’ for the performance documented in film in the exhibition. As a participative drawing You Are It has also been adapted to accommodate safe social distancing for participants at Cooper Gallery at the University of Dundee and at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London. 

The selectors applauded the collective embrace of M.Lohrum’s work. “The invitation to members of the public to participate as anonymous makers and the work’s dependency on collaboration between strangers felt timely and necessary speaking to the power of art bring people together” says Frances Morris.

The Second Prize, worth £5,000, was awarded to Nancy Haslam-Chance for her series of Caring Drawings. Individually entitled Pendant Alarm, Tea, and Teeth, these pencil drawings document the artist’s role as a carer and support worker. Focusing on the relationships she has formed with her clients, Nancy Haslam-Chance represents the daily details and practicalities of a job she describes as “rewarding but also hard and lonely”. Drawn from memory while the artist travelled between shifts, the prize-winning drawings expressively capture moments of intimacy, tenderness, and companionship.

“We were all moved by the intimacy and touching incidents depicted in Nancy Haslam Chance’s small, spare drawings made with minimal means in a diaristic mode following day work as a care-worker” Frances Morris explains “Tiny details - such as the empty calendar - speak eloquently of the ‘human condition’ while the stretched arm of the carer evokes, for me, the way so many people have extended themselves to care for others during this time.” 

Ayeshah Zolghadr received the Student Award of £2,000, for Circling the Square I. This drawing traces repetitive walks made by the artist’s father from 7 February until 21 May 2020, walking around the square outside of his home multiple times a day and following varying paths. Through the practice of walking, Ayeshah’s father seeks control over his medical anxiety and ongoing stroke recovery. Initially recorded through the running app Strava, the line drawings represent an abstracted visual database and transcribes 116 meditative walks in total within this digital line drawing.

The Working Drawing Award was selected by Sir Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum, London, Piers Gough CBE RA, Architect, and Sophie McKinlay, Director of Programme at V&A Dundee. Worth £2,000, the Working Drawing Award went to Ben Johnson’s meticulously detailed Scrovegni Chapel Worksheet, a preparatory drawing for a painting. This drawing represents Ben Johnson’s reflections on the Scrovegni Chapel, renowned for Giotto’s frescoes of the story of Christ’s life, which dominates the experience of the architectural space of this perfect but humble architecture. 

The selectors also awarded three Special Commendations to Frank Leuwer, James Robert Morrison, Isabel Rock:

Frank Leuwer, for his three drawings Untitled (Attic), Untitled (Room), and Untitled (Room), 2020, all Sellotape on paper.

James Robert Morrison, for his three drawings in the series There is Never More Than a Fag Paper Between Them - Phil & Jacob, Leo & Brian, Andrew & Ben, 2020, all made with pencil on fag (cigarette) papers.

Isabel Rock, for her drawing, Grief 1 - Leap from The Island, 2019, acrylic ink on paper.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize has an established reputation as the UK’s most important annual exhibition of drawing. Led by Professor Anita Taylor, Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee, and supported by the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust, the annual Drawing Prize exhibition is known for its influential role in promoting and celebrating contemporary drawing practice and championing the role and value of drawing as a vital means of communication and expression. 2020 is the third year of support for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize by the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust and the 25th consecutive annual exhibition since it was founded in 1994.

After a successful tour to Drawing Projects UK in Trowbridge and Cooper Gallery in Dundee, the exhibition will be available to see online from 14 January 2021. Described by visitors as “a visual feast”, “a revelation” and “a real treat”, this show of 71 works by 56 artists is available to see on our front page, the Trinity Buoy Wharf and Drawing Projects UK websites. You can watch the recording of the live VIP Exhibition Preview and Awards Announcement that took place on Wednesday 13 January 2021 here (please note the event starts 5 minutes in).

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 Awards Announcement will take place at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London on the evening of 13 January 2021. Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, the free exhibition not open to the public at Trinity Buoy Wharf as planned from 9 January 2021 to 22 January 2021. There will, however, be an extensive programme of online events throughout this period.We will also be making an interactive virtual exhibition at Trinity Buoy Wharf which will be available to explore online soon. 

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize received a record-breaking number of entries in 2020. The volume and quality of artworks submitted by creatives from 42 countries around the world made the selection more challenging than ever for this year’s selection panel – Ian McKeever RA, artist, Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, and Sophia Yadong Hao, Principal Curator of Cooper Gallery, Dundee. The Working Drawing Award was selected by Sir Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum, Piers Gough CBE RA, Architect, and Sophie McKinlay, Director of Programme at V&A Dundee.

Out of 4,274 entries, 71 works by 56 drawing practitioners were selected – making the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize exhibition a ‘must see’ for everyone interested in drawing, contemporary art, design, and architecture today. The exhibition includes works by artists, architects, designers, and makers at all stages of their careers - from students to established practitioners - located across the UK, as well as in France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, and Turkey. The selected works create a diverse exhibition that reflects a broad scope of contemporary drawing practice.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 Exhibition at Trinity Buoy Wharf
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize will be open to the public with advanced booking from 9th of January to 22nd of January 2021. The exhibition will be accompanied by a range of online and in situ events, held in The Chainstore at Trinity Buoy Wharf. Leading industry professionals will present talks and workshops that celebrate drawing, explore its role, and encourage everyone to participate. Before you head out: please note that booking is required (booking info will be available soon). If London is in Tier 3 or 4, the exhibition will be available to see virtually on our website, and a number of outdoor experiences and activities listed below will go ahead on site.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition includes drawings by:

Becky Allen, Setenay Alpsoy, Lucy Anderson, Iain Andrews, Anna Barratt, Akash Bhatt, Nigel Bird, Andy Black, Carolyn Black, Mandy Bonnell, Siân Bowen & Simón Granell, Rebecca Bramwell, Simon Brewster, Chris Bruce, Camilla Brueton, Nina Chua, Mark Clay, Bob Deakin, Joe Dean, Demeter Dykes, Yutavia George, Tricia Gillman, Nicola Grellier, Nancy Haslam-Chance, Laura Jacobs, Christopher Jones, Sandy Kendall, Frank Leuwer, Cheryl Lewis, M. Lohrum, Rae Fior Lowe, Kay McCrann, Helena McGrath, Holly Mills, R & F Mo, James Robert Morrison, Hormazd Narielwalla, Ruth Richmond, Isobel Rock, Louise Schmid, Seamus Staunton, Peter Sutton, Wai Yin Ryan Tung, Catrin Webster, Sally Wood, Eleanor Wood and Ayeshah Zolghadr

The Working Drawing Award and exhibition display within Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 includes drawings by:
Jeanette Barnes, Myyen Dang, Rachel Duckhouse, Malcolm Franklin, Jack Green, Ben Johnson, Zihao Mei and Savvas Papasavva

The Awards Announcement: The Awards will be announced at Trinity Buoy Wharf on Wednesday, January 13th at 7pm by Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern as part of the online exhibition preview from 6pm (please register for the online event here). Drawing practitioners with drawings selected for the exhibition are eligible for the following:

First Prize: £8000
Second Prize: £5000
Student Award: £2000
Working Drawing Award: £2000


Drawing, so often assigned by history to the small scale, the preparatory, and the diaristic, is revealed in this prize as the most expansive and dynamic of practices, capable of recording both the intimacy and solitude of living through lockdown as well as the heightened emotions and dramas of this deeply troubled world.
— Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, and Selector of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020

The Events & Public Engagement Programme: Please note that further information and the booking links for each free event are below.

9 January 2021 (Saturday): A talk About the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Project with founding director, Anita Taylor at 12noon, booking here.

9 January 2021 (Saturday): An introduction to the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition at 3pm with Anita Taylor, booking here.

9 to 11 January 2021 (Saturday to Monday): Online Advice Sessions about applying for art and design degree programmes (Undergraduate, Masters & PhD) led by Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design staff from the University of Dundee. Choose an available session here.

10 January 2021 (Sunday): A Drawing is Free Drawing Prompt will be published.

11 January 2021 (Monday): An online Drawing is Free In Conversation with Akash Bhatt at 6pm, no booking needed, join in via the Zoom link on the Drawing is Free website by 6.05pm.

12 January 2021 (Tuesday): An online Drawing Discussion with Nina Chua and Ruth Richmond, on drawing in three dimensions at 6pm, book here.

13 January 2021 (Wednesday): The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Awards Announcement at 7pm – please join us here for the online event from 6pm.

14 January 2021 (Thursday): A Live Drawing Session with Drawing is Free & ioi choi - Experiments as a Jaguar - at 2pm. No booking necessary, join in via the Zoom link on the Drawing is Free website by 2.05pm. Suitable for all ages and experience.

14 January 2021 (Thursday): An online Drawing Discussion with Lucy Anderson and Nancy Haslam-Chance on drawing people at 6pm, book here.

15 January 2021 (Friday): An online Drawing Discussion with Frank Leuwer and Ayeshah Zolghadr on drawing spatial relationships and locations at 6pm, book here.

16 January 2021 (Saturday): An online Drawing Discussion on Working Drawings with Ben Johnson and guests at 4pm, book here.

17 January 2021 (Sunday): An online Drawing is Free Drawing Prompt will be published.

18 January 2021 (Monday): An online Drawing is Free In Conversation with Jeanette Barnes at 6pm, no booking needed, join in via the Zoom link on the Drawing is Free website by 6.05pm.

19 January 2021 (Tuesday): An online Drawing Discussion with Tricia Gillman and R &F Mo, on drawing time, memory, the felt and the fictive at 6pm, book here.

20 January 2021 (Wednesday): An online Drawing Discussion with Chris Bruce and Isabel Rock on drawing narratives and stories at 6pm, book here.

21 January 2021 (Thursday): An online Drawing Discussion on with Mark Clay and Peter Sutton on drawing place at 6pm, book here.

22 January 21 (Friday): An online Teaching Drawing Symposium with Drawing is Free & Drawing Projects UK from 3-5pm, book here.  

The symposium will be followed by a “What’s Next? Drawing Correspondence” information session and Q&A with Chloe Briggs, Tania Kovats and Anita Taylor, at 6pm, more information and booking here. 

Please do join in!

#TBWDP20 #DrawingMatters

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition includes 71 drawings by 56 practitioners - including works by students to those by established artists and makers – selected from 4,274 submissions received from across the UK and internationally. 

Supported by the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust, the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize has been led by its founding Director, Professor Anita Taylor, Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee, since 1994. The 2020 exhibition marks the third year of support for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize by Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust, and the 25th consecutive annual open drawing exhibition held since it was founded in 1994. 

The independent Selection Panels comprised Sophia Yadong Hao, Principal Curator of Cooper Gallery at University of Dundee; Ian McKeever RA, artist; and Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern. The Working Drawing display and award was selected by Sir Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum; Piers Gough CBE RA, architect; and Sophie McKinlay, Director of Programme at V&A Dundee.

The exhibition includes drawings by artists, designers and makers at all stages of their careers - from students to established artists - located across the UK, as well as in France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and Turkey. The selected works create a diverse exhibition that reflects a broad scope of contemporary drawing practice. 

"Drawing, so often assigned by history to the small scale, the preparatory, and the diaristic, is revealed in this prize as the most  expansive and dynamic of practices, capable of recording both the intimacy and solitude of living through lock down as well as the heightened emotions and dramas of this deeply troubled world."  Frances Morris, 4 September 2020 

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition includes drawings by: 
Becky Allen / Setenay Alpsoy / Lucy Anderson / Iain Andrews / Anna Barratt / Akash Bhatt / Nigel Bird / Andy Black / Carolyn Black / Mandy Bonnell / Siân Bowen & Simón Granell / Rebecca Bramwell / Simon Brewster / Chris Bruce / Camilla Brueton / Nina Chua / Mark Clay / Bob Deakin / Joe Dean / Demeter Dykes / Yutavia George / Tricia Gillman / Nicola Grellier / Nancy Haslam-Chance / Laura Jacobs / Christopher Jones / Sandy Kendall / Frank Leuwer / Cheryl Lewis / M. Lohrum / Rae Fior Lowe / Kay McCrann / Helena McGrath / Holly Mills /  R & F Mo / James Robert Morrison / Hormazd Narielwalla / Ruth Richmond / Isobel Rock / Louise Schmid / Seamus Staunton / Peter Sutton / Wai Yin Ryan Tung / Catrin Webster / Sally Wood / Eleanor Wood / Ayeshah Zolghadr

The Working Drawing Award and exhibition display within Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 includes drawings by: Jeanette Barnes / Myyen Dang / Rachel Duckhouse / Malcolm Franklin / Jack Green / Ben Johnson / Zihao Mei / Savvas Papasavva

The 2020 Awards - a First Prize of £8,000; Second Prize of £5,000; Student Award of £2,000; and the Working Drawing Award of £2,000 - will be announced at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London in January 2021. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated exhibition catalogue published by Drawing Projects UK.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition will tour to the following venues:

- Drawing Projects UK in Trowbridge, Wiltshire: 2 to 31 October 2020 
- Cooper Gallery at the University of Dundee: 13 November to 19 December 2020 
- Trinity Buoy Wharf in London: from 9 January to 22 January 2021 
- The Gallery at Arts University Bournemouth: from February 2021 (dates TBC)

The exhibition and engagement programme at Drawing Projects UK is further supported using public funding by Arts Council England. 

For all press enquiries please contact Marine Costello at Parker Harris:
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Christopher Jones, Other Side, 2019

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 will open for entries from 20 April 2020 for a special edition - in 2020 it will be the third year of support for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize by Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust and the 25th consecutive annual open drawing exhibition since 1994.

To mark this milestone, there will be an International Call for Entries for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 and a dedicated submission, selection panel and display within the exhibition for the Working Drawing Award 2020 that will focus on the role of working drawings in art, architecture, design, engineering, manufacture, production, and science.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize has an established reputation as the foremost annual exhibition of drawing in the UK. It is known for its leading role in providing new insights into the contemporary drawing practice and championing role and value of drawing more widely. Led by its founding Director, Professor Anita Taylor, Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee, it is selected by an annually changing panel of expert selectors who choose the exhibition of drawings and the award-winning works from those submitted during by emerging and established drawing practitioners via the Call for Entries.

The First Prize of £8,000; Second Prize of £5,000; Student Award of £2,000; and the Working Drawing Award of £2,000 will be announced in September 2020 at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London.

Selectors of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition and awards:
• Ian McKeever RA, Artist
• Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern
• Sophia Yadong Hao, Curator & Writer, University of Dundee

Selectors of the Working Drawing Award 2020:
• Alan Baxter CBE, Engineer & Urban Design
• Sir Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum
• Piers Gough CBE RA, Architect
• Sophie McKinlay, Director of Programme at V&A Dundee

Drawings may be entered for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibitions and awards via the online portal - by 5pm on 24 June 2020 for the Working Drawing Award selected by Alan Baxter, Sir Ian Blatchford, Piers Gough and Sophie McKinlay; and by 5pm on 9 July for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize exhibition and awards selected by Ian McKeever, Frances Morris and Sophia Yadong Hao.  

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition will include around 65 drawings shortlisted for the awards and will tour in the UK in 2020/21. It will be accompanied by a fully illustrated publication.

Entrants will submit images of their work during the online entry process in order to facilitate a two-stage selection process for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 as necessary due to the current public health restrictions. The Selection Panel will then long-list from digital images prior to shortlisting from actual works at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London submitted via the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Collection Centres located across the UK. If your work is selected for the long-list you will be notified of the details for the collection and return of your work(s) within the UK for the shortlisting process. 

For press enquiries, please contact Marine Costello at Parker Harris:
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
T: 020 3653 0891

For all other enquiries please contact Parker Harris:
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
T: 020 3653 0896

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