Wimbledon College of Arts fine arts programme director Dr Lois Rowe has commended two former students for pushing the boundaries after they were nominated for the 2017 Tuner Prize – making up half of the four-person shortlist.
Lubaina Himid and Hurvin Anderson, who both graduated over 20 years ago, could join the likes of Damien Hirst, Grayson Perry, and Steve Mcqueen should they win the prestigious award, with the winner taking home £25,000 prize money.
The winner will be announced on 5 December 2017 at a televised ceremony.
She said: “The university has had many of its alumni nominated for the prize over the years. [2004 nominee] Yinka Shonibare, for instance, was a Wimbledon student.
“Our alumni tend to be very ambitious and prepared for the wider world. However, smugness aside, news like this is very good to hear.”
The college’s attachment to the University of Arts London – one of the top six arts universities in the world – means that it is no surprise that the world’s most talented artists come to study there.
Dr Rowe said: “It is often the students who take risks in their work and push boundaries that tend to succeed.
“We have an ambitious group of students at the moment who are very engaged politically.
“This is incredibly motivating for many of them and has raised the ambition bar in a way that will most certainly lead to wider success after college.”
Ms Himid, 63, was born in Zanzibar, Tanzania, but moved to the UK before her first birthday and graduated from Wimbledon College of Arts in 1976.
She is the oldest ever nominee for the award after the age limit for the prize was lifted this year, and her nominated exhibit features Naming the Money, 100 life-sized painted cut-out figures of black men and women in vivid colour.
Mr Anderson, 52, was born in Birmingham to Jamaican parents, and his nominated exhibition Dub Versions features multiple oil canvases of the insides of barber shops.
All the nominated exhibitions are displayed at the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull until 7 January, with the winner announced at a ceremony in Hull on 5 December.
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