News for release: Wednesday 8th June 2011
Six exceptional illustrators have beaten over 650 entrants to become finalists in the first Book Illustration Competition, a unique collaboration between the House of Illustration and The Folio Society.
Launched in October 2010 and developed to spark excitement about book illustration, this innovative competition invited entrants to ‘Get Inside The Outsider’- to produce a series of illustrations for Albert Camus’s existential masterpiece The Outsider. The Book Illustration Competition has a total prize value of £6500 with the winner being commissioned to illustrate a new Folio Society edition of The Outsider. This will be printed under strict embargo and unveiled for the first time at the award ceremony on 4th July.
After intense deliberation the eminent judging panel which includes internationally renowned illustrator and House of Illustration Trustee Quentin Blake, writer and actor Simon Callow and award-winning illustrator Laura Carlin who has just won The V&A Illustration Award for Best Illustrated Book, alongside Folio’s Art Director and Production Director, selected the shortlist.
Chair of Judges, Quentin Blake, said:
‘The House of Illustration is delighted to be collaborating with The Folio Society on this vital new competition. Our aim is to put illustration centre stage, to reveal the creative processes behind book illustration and the way in which it impacts on our experience and pleasure of reading. Illustrating Camus’s The Outsider – a key novel of postwar existentialism – presented a fascinating challenge to the many illustrators who entered. The standard was exceptionally high and we, the judges, were especially pleased to see a wealth of entries from young people and students who we hope ‘The Book Illustration Award’ will inspire in the years to come.’
The shortlist
Chungwoon Choi is a 28 year-old Korea-born illustrator who won the Gwangalli Eobang Festival poster competition and Mental Health Day UCC Contest in Korea before relocating to the UK. He is studying Illustration and Animation at Kingston University.
Georgina Hounsome is an award-winning illustrator and has exhibited at solo and group exhibitions in the UK and Germany. Her illustration commissions have appeared in a range of publications including The Guardian and Time Out. She is also a lecturer at Falmouth University.
Anne-Marie Jones is a 22 year-old Illustration student at Falmouth University. She is currently working on a children’s book idea and a series of images illustrating the fairytale Rapunzel, in preparation for her degree show.
Joseph Melhuish has just completed his first year studying BA Illustration and Animation at Kingston University. Joseph will be entering more illustration competitions this summer and taking on personal projects to expand his body of work.
Matthew Richardson studied at Middlesex University and Central Saint Martin’s. His illustration work has been widely used in book, newspaper, magazines, design, television and advertising. He is currently working on a year-long project to provide promotional imagery for the V&A using items from their vast collection.
Alenka Sottler was born in Slovenia in 1958. She has won several illustration prizes and exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions. In recent years she has mainly illustrated poetry and fairytales and made original graphics/engravings for collections of poetry.
Notes to editors
About The Book Illustration Competition
The Book Illustration Competition is a collaboration between The House of Illustration and The Folio Society. The winning entry will form part of a Folio Society commission for an illustrated edition of The Outsider by Albert Camus with a new introduction by Damon Galgut, due to be published in August 2011. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony on 4th July and will receive £4000; the five runners-up will each receive a cash prize of £500
About The Folio Society
For over 60 years the Folio Society has been publishing beautiful illustrated editions of the world’s greatest books. We believe that the literary content of a book should be matched by its physical form. With specially commissioned illustrations, many of our editions are further enhanced with introductions written by leading figures in their fields: novelists, journalists, academics, scientists and artists. Exceptional in content and craftsmanship and maintaining the very highest standards of fine book production, Folio Society editions are created to last for generations. www.foliosociety.com
About The House of Illustration
The House of Illustration is the world’s first dedicated home for the world’s most accessible art form. From advertising to animation, picture books to political cartoons and medical drawing to fashion design, we champion illustration, explore its riches and celebrate the ways it touches our lives.
We put the world’s most varied art form centre stage and give it the attention it deserves. We are a world-first creative hub for emerging and establishing artists working in every aspect of illustration, where skills are developed, work is promoted and the imagination is ignited. www.houseofillustration.org.uk
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