The first recipient of the new East London Art Prize, celebrating professional artists working or living in London’s ‘E’ postcodes, is artist filmmaker Kat Anderson. Established by Bow Arts, the award consists of a £15,000 cash prize and a solo exhibition at Nunnery Gallery in 2024.
There were over 700 submissions, reviewed by artist Larry Achiampong, art critic and broadcaster Louisa Buck, Director of East London’s Guts Gallery Ellie Pennick, and curator and Director of The Line Megan Piper.
Kat’s winning entry, a two-channel film installation John, tells the story of a young male patient of a psychiatric hospital who witnesses the death of another Black male patient at the hands of white staff. The work is part of the artist’s ongoing research project ‘Episodes of Horror’ which was previously explored in Kat’s Jerwood New Work Fund-supported work in 2019. This research project uses the genre of horror to discuss representations of mental illness and trauma as experienced by or projected upon Black bodies in media.
Alongside Kat, moving image artist Ufuoma Essi made the prize shortlist with their work From Where We Land (2021). Ufuoma is one of three Jerwood Somerset House Studios Residents, supported by Somerset House and the Jerwood Developing Artists Fund.
All 12 artists are featured in the East London Art Prize Exhibition at Nunnery Gallery until 19 February.
Find out more:
Read more about the East London Art Prize.
