Charles Russell Speechlys and City and Islington College announce the winner of Charles Russell Speechlys Art Prize 2019

Now in its third year, Charles Russell Speechlys announced the winner of their student competition at which finalists from City and Islington College displayed their artwork.

Based on the theme “energy” the winner, Jokubas Vaicekauskas, impressed the Judges with two pieces of artwork which tied in first place.

Heather Maizels, Senior Adviser on Private Wealth and curator of Charles Russell Speechlys' in-house art collection said:

“Jokubas deserves the recognition of Langlands & Bell in awarding him the 1st prize in our third annual student art competition having selected one of his two pieces from an exceptional group of entries.

We are delighted to bring the energy and creativity of all the finalists to our international clients and employees by showing their works for a year in our London headquarters. We strongly believe in sharing our connections and space to encourage and promote young artistic talent within our local community.

It was wonderful to meet the artists and to learn about their pieces. We look forward to following their individual journeys and bringing further support and encouragement to them. “

Guest judges on the evening were acclaimed artists Langlands & Bell who began collaborating in 1978 and have exhibited widely internationally since the early 1980s including exhibitions at Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London, MoMA New York, Venice Biennale, Seoul Biennale, Hermitage St Petersburg, and CCA Kitakyushu Japan. Their work ranges from sculpture, installation, film & video and interactive digital media to full scale architecture. In 2002 Langlands & Bell were commissioned as “Official War Artists” by the Imperial War Museum, London, to research “The Aftermath of September 11 and the War in Afghanistan”.  They won the BAFTA Award for Interactive Arts Installation and were nominated for the Turner Prize for "The House of Osama bin Laden" after their return to London.

In 2016 they completed the permanent installation "Beauty < Immortality" at Piccadilly Circus Underground station. They will present solo exhibitions of new work at Gallery 1957, Accra Ghana, from 17 October - 3 December 2019, and at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, from 26 February - 25 May 2020.