Tower Hamlets-based Willem Weismann has been announced as the winner of the East London Painting. Launched in 2014, the prize was created by Foundation for FutureLondon and Bow Arts Trust, with the support of the Goldhill Family and the Zabludowicz Collection, to celebrate the diversity of artists working with painting in the boroughs of East London.
Weismann, 38, was selected among a shortlist of 23 artists, by a panel including artist Phoebe Unwin, ArtReview’s Deputy Editor Oliver Basciano, Elizabeth Neilson (Director of the Zabludowicz Collection), and founder of Launchpad, Sarah Elson.
As the winner, Weismann will receive a prize of £10,000 as well as a solo show at the Nunnery Gallery this autumn, which will be the first in the artist’s career. Weismann was selected for his painting Library Guide, which, he explains, ‘is about the relation between books and painting’; ‘both are a communication of information, and both are physical objects which are pushed to the sideline in an increasingly digital age, where everything is becoming virtual and weightless’.
The 23 shortlisted artists are currently on show at the Rum Factory through 17 May.
14 May 2015