Sunday, 15 January 2006 | Elif Sungur

Susan Gunn Takes Euro Arts Prize With Powerful Red Work

Susan Gunn, wife of former Norwich City goalkeeper, Bryan Gunn, hit the back of the net fair and square today with a massive red contemporary image titled Specto Spectus I & II - winning the first Sovereign Art Prize, a Pan European prize launched this year.

Sir Peter Blake, Chairman of the judging panel for the inaugural Sovereign European Art Prize, announced that the 25,000 Euro (£17,000) prize had been won by the British artist Susan Gunn. Sir Peter is famed for designing many of the LP covers for The Beatles, including the iconic image for Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The Prize was presented by Howard Bilton, the founder and chairman of the Sovereign Art Foundation, at a special gala dinner and auction held at Bonhams, New Bond Street on Friday 13th.

Commenting on her win Susan Gunn said: 'I'm a over the moon, ecstatic! I suppose I'm a bit of wreck just now as this is just such a big step for my career. It is a really brave decision by the judges as there are more established artists in the competition and I'd class myself as an emerging artist. I hope to repay their confidence in me and my work.''

The large 245 x 306 x 10cm work which dominated the finalists exhibition at Bonhams is a carmine-coloured painting whose subtle surface textures speak of an overt male world of leather bound clubs, but also a subversive powerful female reality that links it to blood and veins which appear to work below the surface.

The thirty paintings short listed for this new annual award have been on show at Bonhams since 4 January and the visitors to the exhibition and to the Foundation's website have also been encouraged to vote for their favourite painting. Two artists recognised by the public vote were the Dutch artist Bas Coenegracht and the British artist Pamela Golden.

In his award speech Sir Peter praised the Sovereign Art Foundation for the quality of work it had attracted for its inaugural prize. He said: 'What is really encouraging about this Prize is the fact that the Sovereign Art Foundation plans to use the money raised at the auction to fund worthy causes in the arts. So, the Prize is not an end in itself but a serious attempt to generate funds to help the arts, and for that we should all be thankful.'

The Chairman and Founder of the Sovereign Art Foundation, Howard Bilton, thanked Sir Peter and his fellow judges for their efforts on behalf of the Foundation, adding: "This is a brilliant beginning and one on which we intend to build. But, of course, it would not have been possible without the generosity of organisations such as Bonhams and the many individuals throughout Europe who have advised us along the way. The European Art Prize builds on the success of our Asian Art Prize which was set up three years ago and which has already generated significant funds to support our charitable aims. With this annual European Prize we seek to emulate the success we have had in Asia. Our intention is to devote all the money raised to helping emerging artists and worthy charitable artistic causes and, we intend to launch a Europe-wide call for proposals in the next ten days."

Notes on the winners

Susan Gunn (Winner of the Sovereign European Art Prize)
Susan Gunn has exhibited her work widely in the UK and Europe. She was the winner of the prestigious Bishops Prize for painting in 2002 and received an Escalator Visual Arts award from the Arts Council England (East) in 2004. She is currently being mentored by the artists Callum Innes and Colin Self.

Bas Coenegrach
'I don't paint. More interesting for me is how I experience them and how flashes and moments of these photo's are translated into paintings.

I am interested in the speed of city life, the movement of people through the cosmopolitan, the feelings of loneliness and isolation amongst the continuous present crowds in our daily environment.'

Pamela Golden
Pamela Golden lives and works in London. Since 1993 she has shown her small paintings in numerous individual and group shows throughout the world, most recently at Gimpel Fils in London.

The Sovereign European Art Prize was launched in April 2005 at London's Hayward Gallery is designed to celebrate the very best in contemporary European painting. In so doing the Prize acts as the main fund raising vehicle for the Sovereign Art Foundation a registered charity that supports worthy causes in the field of the arts.

The Sovereign Art Foundation was established in Asia in 2003 and its most recent grant has been to the Hong Kong Youth Arts Festival to fund a project that teaches disabled children to paint.

The full judging panel for the 2005 Sovereign European Art Prize are: Sir Peter Blake (Chair), Jorge Molder (Portugal), Charlotta Kotik (New York and the Czech Republic) Shaheen Merali (Germany), Ami Barak (France), Janwillen Schroffer (the Netherlands) Giorgio Bonomi (Italy), Angela Flowers (UK) and Brian Ferry.

The 2006 Sovereign European Art Prize will be launched at the Kampa Museum in Prague this Spring and will feature an exhibition of ten paintings from the 30 short-listed for the 2005 Prize selected by the Chairman of the Sovereign Art Foundation, Howard Bilton.

For more information, please visit http://www.candlestar.co.uk/sovereign-shortlist.html