The National Gallery of Ireland has revealed the 46 artists shortlisted for this year’s AIB portrait prizes.
The shortlist for the AIB Portrait Prize, which aims to show “the breadth of contemporary Irish art”, comprises 26 artists from across the island of Ireland working across a variety of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, video and photography.
The winner of the prize will receive €15,000 in cash and will be commissioned to create a work for the national portrait collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000. There will also be two other awards of €1,500 for highly commended entries.
David Stephenson, a fine art photographer and film-maker from Dublin, was selected as the winner of last year’s prize for his photograph, Ann and Ollie, Main Street, Wexford, after Dublin artist David Booth won the competition in 2022 for his painting, Salvatore, 2021.
The judging panel this year consists of artist Hughie O’Donoghue, The Model director Emer McGarry and Simon O’Connor, director of the Museum of Literature Ireland.
Meanwhile, there were 20 young artists aged between three and 18 years old shortlisted for the AIB Young Portrait Prize, which is now in its sixth year. Five winners will be selected – one from each respective age category and an overall winner – and will receive a bespoke art box, with the overall winner also being awarded a €500 cash prize.
The judges are author-illustrator and motivational speaker Ashwin Chacko, visual street artist Emmalene Blake and Sheena Barrett, head of research and learning at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
An exhibition featuring a shortlist of portraits from both competitions will go on display in the National Gallery from November 9th, 2024, until March 9th, 2025.
AIB Portrait Prize 2024: The 26 shortlisted works
AIB Portrait Prize 2024: The 26 shortlisted artists
- Neil-Jack (Alphonsus) Hamilton (Donegal), Jennifer McShane, oil on canvas
- Robert Jackson (Dublin), Beth in Low Light, oil on roughened brass plate
- Arann McCormack (Wicklow), I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, photograph
- Michael Wann (Sligo), Camille, Charcoal on Paper
- Kevin Sharkey (Dublin), Robyn, photograph
- Gearóid Arthur Hayes (Limerick), Kwena Chokoe, oil on board
- Cara Rose (Dublin), Ailbhe and Michelle, coloured pencil on mounted paper
- Robert Stothard (Leitrim), Carl in the Box Room, photograph
- Markela Lacovou (Dublin), 10.07.1980, photograph edited in Photoshop and Illustrator, digital printing on canvas and manual work with hagiography pigments and caustic liquid
- Amanda Dunsmore (Clare), Lydia, Dr Lydia Foy, 2022, filmed video portrait, silent, 18 mins
- Beverley Healy (Antrim), Sibling Travellers, mixed media (egg tempera, oil, and acrylic) on panel
- Caolán Barron (Wexford), Isabella Gerbola, Circus Gerbola, Tramore, 2023, photograph
- Laurence J McMahon (Dublin), Mary Lou McDonald President of Sinn Féin, photograph
- Conor O’Connell (Roscommon), Ómra, oil on copper panel
- Ellius Grace (Dublin), Shane MacGowan At Home, 2021, photograph
- David Hamilton (Armagh), The Family Bowles and The Fiscal Black Hole, acrylic on canvas
- Philip Thomas Crean (Dublin), 64, photograph
- Emily McGardle (Monaghan), The Pox, coloured pencil and pen on paper
- Martin Maguire (Louth), GameBoy, oil on canvas
- Darragh O’Connell (Dublin), John and Fionnán, oil on canvas
- Lorraine Dunne (Westmeath), Aoife on Dollymount, oil on canvas
- David Creedon (Cork), Miss Evans in her Sweetshop, photograph
- Shane Coughlan (Dublin), Róisín Dubh, photograph on photo rag paper
- Joy Kavanagh (Cork), Self-subject; In Bloom, acrylic on wooden board
- Mick O’Dea (Clare), Fergus Martin, oil on canvas
- Harriet Casey (Meath), Are You Sitting Comfortably?, oil on canvas
AIB Young Portrait Prize 2024: The 20 shortlisted works
AIB Young Portrait Prize 2024: The 20 shortlisted artists
- Phelim McEvoy (Carlow), Self Portrait of my Future Self, pencil on paper
- Junxi Yi (Meath), Me in Chinese Traditional Dress, oil pastel, nail polish, and gem stickers on canvas
- Aoibhe O’Connor (Waterford), Breakthrough, acrylic on canvas
- Avni Mittal (Cork), Inner Reflection, acrylic on canvas
- Sarah Leyden (Dublin), Park Life, oil on canvas
- Zihan He (Dublin), My Mum, acrylic on canvas
- Taibat Rasheed (Dublin), Spring, graphite on paper
- Darragh Granahan (Galway), My Younger Self, acrylic on canvas
- Conor Mooney (Dublin), My Best Friend, pencil and oil pastel on canvas
- Allanah McDonald Brown (Wicklow), Allanah The Mermaid, mixed media
- Victoria Yan-Rock (Dublin), Father’s Day, oil pastel on paper
- Rosie Dwyer (Wicklow), My Hair at the End of the Day, paint, markers, and pencils on paper
- Hugo Cashell (Meath), Gill in the Garden and the Sun is Setting, acrylic ink on paper
- Adam Wiercioch Chinatamunnee (Cavan), My Mother, oil pastel on paper
- Roman Petrova (Limerick), Vivid Impressions, coloured pencil on paper
- Guorui Sui (Dublin), My Little Sister, oil on canvas
- Evan Ward (Dublin), Family Unit Joe, clay
- Aoibhe Devereux, Tumtha (Immersed), acrylic on canvas board
- Julia Kardas (Clare), Dawn in Molten Blue, acrylic and pastel on paper
- Kate Glanville (Dublin), One World, pencil and paint on paper