The five artists and their works shortlisted for this year’s prestigious John Moores Painting Prize have been revealed.

A first prize winner will be announced at Liverpool’s Walker Gallery on 7 July, with the painter achieving the overall title receiving a £25,000 prize.

Other shortlisted prizewinners will each receive £2,500 when the announcement is made, prior to the shortlisted artworks going on display to the public from 9 July until 27 November.

Untitled, 2015, by Talar Aghbashian (b.1981, Beirut); Birthyard, 2015, by Gabriella Boyd (b.1988, Glasgow); Dissolver, 2015, by Benjamin Jamie (b. 1978, Nottingham); One, The Side-ness of In-Out, 2015, by Selma Parlour (b.1976, Johannesburg); and Squint (19), 2015, by Michael Simpson (b.1940, Dorset) are all in the running for this year’s title.

Talar Aghnashian depicts a roughly modelled arm of a statue of an assassinated politician in her shortlisted work (pictured), while Gabriella Boyd focuses on the merging of private and public spaces, fleeting interactions and moments of failed intimacy.

Shortlisted Benjamin Jamie seeks to turn the mundane into the unusual through his paintings while fellow potential winner Selma Parlour uses her entry to disrupt our perception of whether shapes are abstractive or figurative, and Michael Simpson’s piece is one of a continuing series of paintings.

The final shortlisted works have been picked from more than 2,500 entries, 54 of which will be on show when the John Moores Painting Prize exhibition launches as part of Liverpool Biennial 2016.

The entries have been judged anonymously by an esteemed panel of jury members including the artists Gillian Carnegie, Ansel Krut, Phoebe Unwin and Ding Yi, and the author and freelance curator Richard Davey.

Juror Richard Davey says: “Beyond their obvious material connection as paintings, this year’s shortlisted works may appear to have little in common: one is a geometric abstraction, three are figurative, and one hovers in a poetic space between figuration and abstraction.

“On closer inspection, however, we see that the paintings share a common ability to reveal fresh perspectives and new points of view, through the medium of paint. In doing so, they show us our reality and far more, broadening and transforming our individual outlooks.”

Once the exhibition is underway, visitors will also have chance to vote for their favourite painting to win the Visitors’ Choice Award, sponsored by Rathbones, with the winning artist receiving a £2,016 prize.

First established in 1957, the renowned John Moores Painting Prize is organised in partnership with the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition Trust and is supported by exhibition partner Weightmans.

All works featured in the exhibition will be available to purchase.

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