Saatchi Art Announces This Year's New Sensations Prize

Saatchi Art today announced this year's New Sensations Prize, widely regarded as the most important annual prize for emerging artists in the UK.

Launched in 2007 by Rebecca Wilson, chief curator of online art gallery Saatchi Art (www.saatchiart.com), New Sensations supports the most imaginative and talented young artists in the UK and presents their work to an international audience each year during Frieze Week.

For this 8th edition of the prize, art students graduating from BA and MA courses at UK and Republic of Ireland colleges and universities in 2014 will be nominated by Saatchi Art curators. The longlist of nominated artists will be announced in August 2014, and the shortlisted artists, chosen by a panel of judges, will be announced in September. The shortlisted artists will show their work in the New Sensations exhibition in October. The New Sensations 2014 winner, chosen by the judges, will be awarded a cash prize to fund a studio for a year.

Since the prize was launched 7 years ago, the judges for New Sensations have included key figures in the contemporary art world such as artists Rachel Whiteread, Antony Gormley, John Stezaker and Gary Hume; gallerists Sadie Coles, Maureen Paley and Alison Jacques; museum directors Kate Bush, head of the Barbican Art Galleries, London, and Ralph Rugoff, director of the Hayward Gallery, London; critics and broadcasters Tim Marlow, Louisa Buck and Matthew Collings; Tabitha Jackson, Commissioning Editor, Arts, Channel 4; and Rebecca Wilson, Chief Curator, Saatchi Art. The judges for the 2014 New Sensations Prize will be announced in July 2014.

The New Sensations exhibition, held every October, is recognized as one of the unmissable art events of Frieze Week in London, offering collectors an unparalleled opportunity to see the finest emerging art from across the U.K. The New Sensations 2014 exhibition will take place at B1, Victoria House, Bloomsbury, London WC1, in a 22,000 square foot venue exclusively represented by Location House. An online exhibition will also be available for viewing at saatchiart.com/newsensations.

Partnership with ABSOLUT

Absolut returns for a 3rd year as the key partner with Saatchi Art on New Sensations. Absolut has a strong heritage of partnering with the creative community. Since the first reinterpretation by Andy Warhol in the early 1980s, the brand has invited hundreds of artists and designers to create thousands of adaptations of the iconic Absolut bottle. This year at New Sensations, Absolut invites participating artists to join the long line of collaborators, by creating their own design and transforming the bottle.

About Saatchi Art

Saatchi Art is the world's leading online art gallery, connecting people with art and artists they love. Saatchi Art offers an unparalleled selection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and photography in a range of prices, and it provides artists from around the world with an expertly curated environment in which to exhibit and sell their work. Saatchi Art is redefining the experience of buying and selling art by making it easy, convenient and welcoming for both collectors and artists. To discover the world of Saatchi Art, please visit www.saatchiart.com.

Photo Credit: Jack Stanton, installation details, winner of New Sensations 2013