The Competition
The Chaiya Art Awards are currently closed for submissions
Important Update
Since we launched the Chaiya Art Awards Charity in 2018 we have run three cycles and delivered:
Three national competitions, these 10 day exhibitions held at the gallery@oxo and expanded in 2023 to include The Bargehouse (16,500 sq metres).
We have displayed 320 artworks; welcomed nearly 12,000 visitors to our exhibitions; awarded £45,000 in prize money; over 5000 have participated in our public votes; received over 320,000 hits on our website; networked with nearly 8000 artists who now receive our emails; over 600 theme-based Chaiya hardback books sold.
We are currently seeking finances for the fourth cycle. We will keep you updated on the theme and date of the event.
If you’d like to be involved further do get in touch.
Award Criteria
Artists will judged on:
Theme Interpretation
Originality and Technique
Emotional impact
Entries were accepted on all visual artistic mediums that gallery@oxo and The Bargehouse can display including but not limited to painting, drawing, graphic design, sculpture, mixed media, photography, video, textiles, ceramics, glass, wood and installations. You can read any criteria guidelines in our Terms and Conditions here.
What are the
Prizes
- Top prize: The Chaiya Art Award £10,000
- Public Choice Award: £1,000
- Judges Awards: Eight prizes of £500 each
A selection from the longlisted finalists will be invited to exhibit their submitted work as part of the exhibition.
Venue & Dates
gallery@oxo AND The Bargehouse
Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House St, London SE1 9PH
Exhibition Dates: 7-16 April 2023
Selected artwork will need to be delivered and collected from venue on set days (as specified in our T&C’s)
Judging Panel
Alastair Adams
Alastair Adams has been painting portraits since the mid 1990’s over which time he has established a strong reputation as a commissioned portrait artist. His dynamic but natural and unassuming portraits earning him many high profile commissions and acclaim through national and international exhibitions.
His portrait of Bruce Robinson, Director, Screenwriter, Novelist and Actor was selected for exhibition in the BP Portrait Award 2018 at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Alastair was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in London, to paint Tony Blair for their permanent collection.
After becoming a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) in 2002, in 2008 he was made President, the youngest in the Society’s 120 year history. In his capacity as President, he continued to build upon the Society’s history and strong reputation as a source for high quality, original and inventive world leading portraiture.
Favour Jonathan
Favour Jonathan is a London based multidisciplinary artist born in Benin City Nigeria. In 2001 Favour won 1st prize in Sky Arts TV show, ‘Landmark’ where artists across the country competed to create the UK’s next major landmark. Her winning sculpture was installed on the former IKEA building in Coventry.
Jonathan gained BA Honours in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins (CSM) in London and it was during her studies that she developed an interest in the gaze from a western perspective and definition of Fine art from an African creative lens. Her works are culturally stimulated creations, which operate as representations of her understanding of the world and consider how they can motivate young people in recognising their strength through art processes. A method and passion which she developed whilst studying and working at CSM.
Jonathan has exhibited as part of the RA summer show 2018, as well as Lagos Biennial, 198 Gallery, BBZ BLACK BOOK’’ Copeland Gallery .
Kaffe Fassett
Kaffe was born in San Francisco and started as a fine artist, winning a scholarship to study at The Boston Museum of Fine Arts School when he was nineteen. He left after three months to paint in London, and after settling in England, his passion for colour led him to knitting and designing knitwear for Missoni and Bill Gibb amongst others, and his hand-knitted garments are now in museum collections all over the world.
In 1969, Kaffe was asked to design a garment for a large colour page feature in British Vogue, photographed by David Bailey. Kaffe’s unique garments have been commissioned and collected by Barbra Streisand, Lauren Bacall, John Schlesinger, Ali McGraw, Shirley Maclaine, Alan Bergman and H.R.H. Princess Michael of Kent, to name but a few. Kaffe has also been interviewed countless times on national television and radio programmes such as ‘Richard and Judy’ for ‘This Morning’; ‘Chelsea Flower Show Live’ and for Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’ and ‘Desert Island Discs’ with Sue Lawley.
In 1988 Kaffe became the first living textile artist to have a one-man show at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The exhibition attracted such crowds that the Museum doubled attendance figures during the run and the exhibition toured to nine countries: Finland, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, Canada, USA and Iceland. Kaffe Fassett has dedicated the last 50 years of his life to the world of Knitting, Needlepoint and Patchwork, promoting these crafts through his own work and encouraging others to find their own creativity. He has produced close to 50 publications.
Dr Christo Kefalas
Christo Kefalas is a cultural anthropologist and art history researcher. Since 2018, Christo has worked for the National Trust, currently as the Senior Curator of Global and Inclusive Histories. She leads on institutional advice for the care and display of collections originating outside of Europe, while also promoting the greater global connectivity of all Trust collections. Christo was an editor and author of the ‘Interim Report on the Connections between Colonialism and Properties now in the Care of the National Trust, Including Links with Historic Slavery’.
Her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford focused on 19th century Māori artefacts and a photography collection at the Pitt Rivers Museum. Christo brings an anthropological perspective on history and diverse cultural experiences to her public curation practice, acknowledging the importance of identity and power in society. She has worked as a curator for collections at the British Museum, Great North Museum Newcastle, and the Horniman Museum where she managed the curatorial delivery of the permanent World Cultures Gallery in South London.
Despite being born in warm and sunny Athens, Greece and raised in Los Angeles, California, Christo is drawn to cultural hotspots and has made London her home for 15 years. She spends as much time seeing art in museums and galleries outside of work as she does inside of work. She also enjoys being outdoors in nature, equally spending time hiking in mountains or cycling around the city.
Marcus Lyon
Marcus Lyon (b. 1965) is a British artist, born & raised in rural Britain and is best known for his extensive, research-based work creating Human Atlases that explore groups of extraordinary people through photographic portraits, oral histories, and DNA mapping.
Lyon studied Political Science at university & leadership at Harvard Business School. Commissioned & exhibited globally, his works are held in both private & international collections including the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Netherlands Foto Museum Rotterdam, Art Institute of Chicago, the British Arts Council Collection, Detroit Institute of Arts, & the Smithsonian in Washington DC. The 21st century saw his work move beyond traditional forms as he began to incorporate sound & science into his practice. He has created extensive bodies of work on identity, diversity & globalisation.Outside the art world, Lyon is a determined social entrepreneur & an active public speaker. Lyon is a TED speaker and has served on the boards of the global leadership social enterprise Leaders’ Quest, the art institution Somerset House and is an ambassador for Black Leaders Detroit.
Katrina Moss
Founder of the Chaiya Art Awards. Katrina has extensive experience in marketing and the Arts and has always been passionate about creativity. Katrina adheres to the beliefs that artistic expression is a multi-faceted gift that allows us to express the unutterable, glimpse mystery and explore the complexities of the human condition. In the process we can discover ourselves and that the arts contain an intrinsic power to deeply move, challenge and engage our souls.
Alastair Gordon – Curator
Alastair’s works feature in various public, corporate and private collections including the Simmons and Simmons Collection and Beth de Woody Collection. Recent solo exhibitions at the Ahmanson Gallery, Los Angeles and First Things Gallery, New York. He was awarded the inaugural Shoosmiths painting prize in 2014 and has been shortlisted for various other awards including the Dentons Art Prize and Jacksons Painting Prize.
Founder and Director Husk Gallery, London, until 2015 Alastair worked on various curatorial projects in Limehouse, London. Husk is a partnership between Departure and Morphe Arts, run by artists for artists with a particular lean towards new graduates’ work.
Alastair is course leader for Professional Practice at the Leith School of Art, Edinburgh where he also coordinates their graduate residency programme. He draws every day and works out of his South London studio where he is currently working on new paintings.
Ann Clifford – Co founder, Author
Ann has a wide range of professional experience encompassing organisational leadership, playwriting, screenwriting, radio magazine programme producing and presenting, special needs teaching, and contributes articles to books and magazines. She is the author of ‘Time to Live: The Beginner’s Guide to Saying Goodbye’ and as a speaker has spoken many times on the subject. She has written both the Chaiya Art Awards books – ‘one of the highlights of my writing life’. Ann is passionate about work that invites us to explore spirituality allowing its fresh provocation to resonate within us and emanate through out lives.