Young Masters: Focus on the Figure in Art presented by The Cynthia Corbett Gallery runs until 6th July at Gallery 27, Cork Street, London. The exhibition runs concurrently with Klari Reis: Musings in Colour at the same venue. This is a great chance to see the Young Masters artists’ approach to the figure in art.

Curated by Daisy McMullan (MA Curating, Chelsea College of Art and Design), the exhibition will feature artists including Lottie Davies (winner of the Young Masters Art Prize 2012), Derrick Santini, Charles Moxon, Aileen McEwan, Elise Ansel, Nicole Etienne, Nina Fowler, Elaine Wilson, Beth Katleman, Fabiano Parisi, Christoph Steinmeyer, Charlotte Bracegirdle, Deborah Azzopardi and Boyarde Messenger.

The Young Masters Art Prize operates as a not-for-profit initiative, which was originally launched in 2009 by London-based American gallerist Cynthia Corbett, with the aim of celebrating artists who pay homage to the skill and traditions of the past.

In a celebration of both modern skill and tradition, the Young Masters Art Prize features emerging and newly established artists who possesses an interest in the discourse between past and present. Each artist references an element of the established art-historical canon, either through technique, imagery or subject, whilst establishing an undeniably contemporary spin.

Charles Moxon, has participated to the BBC televised “Show me the Monet” competition in June/July 2012; in 2011 his work appeared in, Dazed and Refused, Hurwundeki Gallery, Londonl he was shortlisted to the Final 300 in the BP Award; has been nominated for the Young Masters Art Prize 2012, in which he was a winner in the category “Highly Commended for Technical Excellence” and finally has been interviewed twice by Rankin’s Hunger Magazine. “Charles’ eye for detail, technique and life-like qualities are astonishing” (Rankin’s Hunger Magazine, 2012) perfectly describes Charles’ talent, an emerging artist only 21 years old still perfecting his craft at art school.

Charles Moxon’s portraits draw on past techniques, in particular those of the Dutch seventeenth century Old Masters, but combine these with the added observational detail and hyper realism of more modern photorealism. His use of lighting and fluid paint strokes are reminiscent of Vermeer, with a similar layering of transparent glazes to help create depth.

In his commissioned portrait of Roy Bentley, an ex-England and Chelsea football player, he captures the sitter and his aged appearance with startling accuracy. His work, ‘National Anthem’, which was exhibited in the Mall Galleries as part of the 2012 BBC series ‘Show Me the Monet' portrays an elderly woman in the latter stages of her life.

Lottie Davies won the 2013 Runner up Young Masters Art Prize but also numerous awards, letting her gaining recognition, including the Association of Photographers’ Awards, the International Color Awards, and the Schweppes Photographic Portrait Awards. Her work has garnered international acclaim with the image Quints, which won First Prize at the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Awards 2008 at the National Portrait Gallery in London, with Viola As Twins, which won the Photographic Art Award, Arte Laguna Prize in Venice in 2011, and her collaboration on 'Dreams of Your Life' with Hide & Seek/Film 4.0 which was BAFTA-nominated in 2012.

Davies’ work is concerned with stories and personal histories, the tales and myths we use to structure our lives: memories, life-stories, beliefs and identity while also referencing popular culture, such as cinema and television. She takes inspiration from classical, Old Masters such as Constable, Delaroche and from modern painting, cinema and theatre as well as the imaginary worlds of literature, which fitted perfectly with the Young Masters Art Prize concept. She employs a deliberate reworking of our visual vocabulary, playing on our notions of nostalgia, visual conventions and subconscious ‘looking habits’, with the intention of evoking a sense of recognition, narrative and movement.

Presented by The Cynthia Corbett Gallery

Gallery 27
27 Cork Street, Mayfair
London W1S 3NG United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 77347595
info@thecynthiacorbettgallery.com
www.thecynthiacorbettgallery.com

Opening hours
Daily from 11am to 7pm or by appointment