Revealed: Irish artist Paul Mosse wins €5,000 Savills Prize

The most significant award in Irish contemporary art – The Savills Prize – has been won by one of the country’s most noted living artists Paul Mosse.

The €5,000 Savills Art Prize is awarded to the artist who has produced an outstanding body of work in the last year or made some other substantial contribution to the visual arts in Ireland.

The winner was announced from a shortlist of five contenders this evening at Vue 2018, Ireland’s national contemporary art fair at the Royal Hibernian Academy.

The other four contenders were Claire Halpin, Janet Mullarney, Gordon Harris and Gabhann Dunne.

Mosse’s work features recycled materials and has questioned the cyclical nature of decay and renewal for over 50 years and time itself is one of his favourite elements.

His ‘What’s With The Apocalypse?’ exhibition was internationally acclaimed and cemented his reputation as one of the most significant artists from Ireland in decades.

Mosse, a multiple award-winning artist, described his surprise at winning the Savills Prize.

“This award gives any artist the things they value most, approval and the time to produce more art,” said Mosse.

Part of a multi-talented family, the Aosdana member is a brother of ceramicist Nicholas and sculptor Tania, and an uncle of photographer and filmmaker Richard.

“He is the artists’ artist. His work always leaves people asking questions,” said John Daly of Hillsboro Fine Art.

“There is nobody like him in Ireland. He is un-phased by fashion and has always done his own thing.

“Originally a painter, his work has become much more sculptural through the years and his works are almost always three dimensional.

“He is very innovative in his use of materials, some of which are more at home on a building site than an artist’s studio, such as cement and nails.”

Born in Kilkenny, where he still lives, Aosdana member Mosse studied at The Chelsea College of Arts in London.

“It is a great pleasure to award the Savills Art Prize to Paul for his monumental contribution to the arts over the past 12 months and particularly for his internationally acclaimed exhibition What’s with the Apocalypse?” said Angus Potterton, Managing Director of Savills Ireland.

“Paul’s work celebrates the importance of re-purposing materials from our everyday world and taking inspiration from the physical environment in which we live.

“At Savills we are increasingly aware of the positive effects of the natural world on the wellbeing of our office employees both for ourselves and for our clients.

“We are delighted to support this important prize at VUE Art Fair for the fourth year running.”

Source: Read Full Article