The Walker Art Gallery has announced the five shortlisted artworks for this year’s John Moores Painting Prize.

The first prize winner of the 60th anniversary competition will be announced on 12 July.

‘Quilt’ by Billy Crosby; ‘King and Queen of Wands’ by Jacqui Hallum; ‘The Thunderous Silence of Your Presence’ by Tom Howse; ‘GIANTS’ by Joseph O’Rourke (main picture) and ‘The Divide, Beyond Reasoning’ by Shanti Panchal are still in the running for the prestigious accolade.

The paintings will also form part of a free exhibition of 60 entries, which will go on display at the Walker from 14 July to 18 November.

The finalists, which were picked from more than 2,700 entries, were judged anonymously by a panel of jurors including the artists Monster Chetwynd, Turner Prize-winner Lubaina Himid CBE, Bruce McLean and Liu Xiaodong, and curator Jenni Lomax.

The first prize winner will join the revered John Moores Painting Prize alumni, including David Hockney, Mary Martin, Peter Doig, Keith Coventry, Sarah Pickstone and Rose Wylie among others.
Lubaina Himid says: “One of the most striking things about this year’s John Moores Painting Prize shortlist is that all five artists are obviously deeply passionate, not only about the hard-won process of painting itself, but more importantly for me, about what a painting can do when presented in a meaningful conversation with an audience.

“We have chosen works which seem to want to engage in many different ways – sometimes challenging and provoking, sometimes so bold they almost caused us to laugh out loud. And yet in amongst these predominantly large-scale, striking works, there are still and gentle moments which seem to overwhelm us with their strength.”

In addition to the £25,000 first prize, four prizes of £2,500 will be awarded to the shortlisted artists. Visitors to the forthcoming exhibition will also be invited to vote for their favourite painting to win the popular Visitors’ Choice Award, sponsored by Rathbones, and the winner will receive £2,018.

To mark the competition’s 60th anniversary year, 2018’s first prize winner will also be offered a three-month fellowship at Liverpool John Moores University, together with an in-focus solo display at the Walker Art Gallery in 2019.

The John Moores Painting Prize exhibition, which forms part of this year’s Liverpool Biennial, will also showcase five prize-winning paintings from the fifth John Moores Painting Prize China, and will run alongside the free ‘Sean Scully: 1970’ display of works by past prize winner Sean Scully.

The John Moores Painting Prize’s five shortlisted paintings:

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