The winner of the 2021 Contemporary British Painting Prize will be announced on Saturday November 6 in Huddersfield.

Huddersfield Art Gallery has temporarily relocated to the former USC shop site at the Piazza Shopping Centre while building works take place on the current Huddersfield Library and Art Gallery. The Contemporary British Painting Prize exhibition 2021 will launch at the new site.

‘Contemporary British Painting’ is an artist-led organisation which explores and promotes current trends in British painting through group exhibitions, talks and publications. The annual prize, founded in 2016, promotes the best of contemporary painting produced in the British Isles.

Fifteen artists from across the British Isles have been shortlisted from over 1,000 artists who entered the competition this year.

The exhibition will feature three paintings from each of the 15 finalists namely: Susan Absolon, Tony Antrobus, Roland Hicks, Martyna Lebryk, Donna McClean, Hannah Murgatroyd, Christina Niederberger, Sarah Poots, Daisy Richardson, Tom Robinson, Jess Leroy Smith, Gary Spratt, Bill Stewart, Zack Thorne and Jan Valik.

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The paintings will be judged by Matthew Burrows MBE, painter and founder of the Artist Support Pledge, Julie Lomax, CEO of a-n Artists Information Company and Grant Scanlan, Huddersfield museums manager.

The judges will select the 2021 prize winning artist in the morning and it will be announced at 3pm.

The temporary Huddersfield Art Gallery space

The winning artist receives a £2,000 cash prize from Contemporary British Painting, a critical essay on their practice written by Matthew Burrows MBE (to be published in the second edition catalogue early 2022), an invitation to become a member of Contemporary British Painting as well as a selector for the CBP Prize 2022.

Clr Will Simpson, Cabinet member for culture and greener Kirklees, said: “I am proud that we are once again hosting the Contemporary British Painting Prize in Huddersfield meaning that people in Kirklees can enjoy free access to a prestigious cultural event, right on their doorstep.

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“The exhibition premieres in Huddersfield before moving to London, so we get the very first chance to see it right here in Kirklees.

“Visitors to the exhibition will see the diversity, dynamism and quality of the contemporary British Painting scene and hopefully inspire any budding artists we have in our community.”

The exhibition starts on Saturday November 6 at 11am and will remain on show at the Huddersfield Art Gallery space until Saturday January 8 2022. Admission is free. Opening times are Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm.

On Saturday December 11, Judith Tucker (painter, vice-chair of Contemporary British Painting and senior lecturer at University of Leeds) will lead a free walk and talk around the exhibition at 2pm.