The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 Exhibition and Awards Announcement will take place at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London in January 2021. The free exhibition will be presented at Trinity Buoy Wharf and online from 9 January 2021 to 22 January 2021, and will be accompanied by a daily programme of online and in situ events.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize received a record-breaking number of entries in 2020. The volume and quality of artworks submitted by creatives from 42 countries around the world made the selection more challenging than ever for this year’s selection panel – Ian McKeever RA, artist, Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, and Sophia Yadong Hao, Principal Curator of Cooper Gallery, Dundee. The Working Drawing Award was selected by Sir Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum, Piers Gough CBE RA, Architect, and Sophie McKinlay, Director of Programme at V&A Dundee.

Out of 4,274 entries, 71 works by 56 drawing practitioners were selected – making the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize exhibition a ‘must see’ for everyone interested in drawing, contemporary art, design, and architecture today. The exhibition includes works by artists, architects, designers, and makers at all stages of their careers - from students to established practitioners - located across the UK, as well as in France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, and Turkey. The selected works create a diverse exhibition that reflects a broad scope of contemporary drawing practice.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 Exhibition at Trinity Buoy Wharf
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize will be open to the public with advanced booking from 9th of January to 22nd of January 2021. The exhibition will be accompanied by a range of online and in situ events, held in The Chainstore at Trinity Buoy Wharf. Leading industry professionals will present talks and workshops that celebrate drawing, explore its role, and encourage everyone to participate. Before you head out: please note that booking is required (booking info will be available soon). If London is in Tier 3, the exhibition will be available to see virtually on our website, and a number of outdoor experiences and activities listed below will go ahead on site.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition includes drawings by:

Becky Allen, Setenay Alpsoy, Lucy Anderson, Iain Andrews, Anna Barratt, Akash Bhatt, Nigel Bird, Andy Black, Carolyn Black, Mandy Bonnell, Siân Bowen & Simón Granell, Rebecca Bramwell, Simon Brewster, Chris Bruce, Camilla Brueton, Nina Chua, Mark Clay, Bob Deakin, Joe Dean, Demeter Dykes, Yutavia George, Tricia Gillman, Nicola Grellier, Nancy Haslam-Chance, Laura Jacobs, Christopher Jones, Sandy Kendall, Frank Leuwer, Cheryl Lewis, M. Lohrum, Rae Fior Lowe, Kay McCrann, Helena McGrath, Holly Mills, R & F Mo, James Robert Morrison, Hormazd Narielwalla, Ruth Richmond, Isobel Rock, Louise Schmid, Seamus Staunton, Peter Sutton, Wai Yin Ryan Tung, Catrin Webster, Sally Wood, Eleanor Wood and Ayeshah Zolghadr

The Working Drawing Award and exhibition display within Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 includes drawings by:
Jeanette Barnes, Myyen Dang, Rachel Duckhouse, Malcolm Franklin, Jack Green, Ben Johnson, Zihao Mei and Savvas Papasavva

The Awards Announcement: The Awards will be announced at Trinity Buoy Wharf on Wednesday, January 13th at 7pm by Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern (by invitation only).  Drawing practitioners with drawings selected for the exhibition are eligible for the following:

First Prize: £8000
Second Prize: £5000
Student Award: £2000
Working Drawing Award: £2000


Drawing, so often assigned by history to the small scale, the preparatory, and the diaristic, is revealed in this prize as the most expansive and dynamic of practices, capable of recording both the intimacy and solitude of living through lockdown as well as the heightened emotions and dramas of this deeply troubled world.
— Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, and Selector of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020

The Events & Public Engagement Programme: More information on each event and how to book is available via the link for each event below.

9 January 2021 (Saturday): A talk About the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Project with founding director, Anita Taylor at 12noon, booking here.

9 January 2021 (Saturday): An introduction to the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition at 3pm with Anita Taylor, booking here.

9 to 11 January 2021 (Saturday to Monday): Online Advice Sessions about applying for art and design degree programmes (Undergraduate, Masters & PhD) led by Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design staff from the University of Dundee. Choose an available session here.

10 January 2021 (Sunday): A Drawing is Free Drawing Prompt will be published.

11 January 2021 (Monday): An online Drawing is Free In Conversation with Akash Bhatt at 6pm, no booking needed, join in via the Zoom link on the Drawing is Free website by 6.05pm.

12 January 2021 (Tuesday): An online Drawing Discussion with Nina Chua and Ruth Richmond, on drawing in three dimensions at 6pm, book here.

13 January 2021 (Wednesday): The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Awards Announcement at 7pm – by invitation only

14 January 2021 (Thursday): An online Drawing Discussion with Lucy Anderson and Nancy Haslam-Chance on drawing people at 6pm, book here.

15 January 2021 (Friday): An online Drawing Discussion on drawing place at 6pm

16 January 2021 (Saturday): An online Drawing Discussion on Working Drawings with Ben Johnson and guests at 4pm, book here.

17 January 2021 (Sunday): An online Drawing is Free Drawing Prompt will be published.

18 January 2021 (Monday): An online Drawing is Free In Conversation with Jeanette Barnes at 6pm, no booking needed, join in via the Zoom link on the Drawing is Free website by 6.05pm.

19 January 2021 (Tuesday): An online Drawing Discussion with Tricia Gillman and R &F Mo, on drawing time, memory, the felt and the fictive at 6pm, book here.

20 January 2021 (Wednesday): An online Drawing Discussion with Chris Bruce and Isabel Rock on drawing narratives and stories at 6pm, book here.

21 January 2021 (Thursday): An online Drawing Discussion with Mark Clay and Peter Sutton on drawing place at 6pm, book here.

22 January 21 (Friday): An online Teaching Drawing Symposium with Drawing is Free & Drawing Projects UK from 3-5pm, book here.  

The Teaching Drawing symposium will be followed by “What’s Next? Drawing Correspondence” and Q&A Session with Chloe Briggs, Tania Kovats and Anita Taylor, at 6pm, more information available soon.

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