21 April 2006

Duncan of Jordanstone student is a Winning Finalist in Major National Art Exhibition

Lynnmarie Szpak from Dundee, who is currently a BA Fine Art student at Duncan of Jordanstone College, has been selected as a winning finalist in the 2006 Nationwide Mercury Prize 'Art Competition'. The event is the UK's premier student art competition and exhibition.

Her digital work, 'Feeling Modal' is being exhibited alongside other winning works of art at the Nationwide Mercury Prize 'Art Exhibition' at one of London's most exciting new art spaces, The Gallery at The Hospital, Covent Garden, London from Tuesday 11 April. A virtual gallery can also be viewed online from Monday 17 April at www.nationwidemercury.com.

Lynnmarie gave her reaction at the Private View of the winners' exhibition: "It means a lot to me that my work, 'Feeling Modal', is one of the winning finalists in the Competition. It's the first time I've had my art exhibited at a major London gallery, which is really exciting."

Art and design students were set the challenge of creating a work of art inspired by music. The 2006 Competition received over 1600 entries from over 120 art colleges and universities throughout the UK.

The competition's judging panel includes the pre-eminent artist Sir Peter Blake, Tim Marlow, Director of Exhibitions at top London gallery, White Cube and Mark Tappin and Simon Gofton, who have designed album covers for bands such as Coldplay and The Chemical Brothers.

Sir Peter Blake, one of the UK's most celebrated artists and the man behind The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album sleeve, commented: "The art is from students from all over the country and it has been a difficult task choosing the winning finalists. The standard has been high and we've seen some excellent works."

The competition, which is sponsored by Nationwide, is in its second year and was set-up to highlight the link between art and music, providing students with a unique opportunity to have their work exhibited to a wider audience. Chris Hull of Nationwide said: "We are delighted that Nationwide is supporting UK culture in this way. It's great that we're able to help students at this crucial point in their careers."

Notes for editors

The Nationwide Mercury Prize for Album of the Year is the UK's most influential and prestigious music prize and is open to albums of all music genres released by British and Irish artists. Recent winners include Antony & the Johnsons and Franz Ferdinand.

The 2006 Albums of the Year will be announced on Tuesday 18 July 2006 with the overall winner announced at the Awards Show on Tuesday 5 September 2006.

The Art Competition and Exhibition is a new initiative resulting from Nationwide's long-term sponsorship of the Prize and highlights their support of UK culture.

Further information:

Nationwide Mercury Prize: Michael Hamilton: 020 8964 9964

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk