Fourth Plinth Competition Winner & Young Artists' Summer Exhibition

The art department is delighted that Abeer-Fatemah Rizvi, a student in year 8 at St Augustine's, is the winner of The Fourth Plinth Schools Award 2020 competition with her artwork '200 years of the use of trains for Indian Exploitation by the British'.

The Fourth Plinth Programme is the UK’s most talked about contemporary sculpture prize. Funded by the Mayor of London and supported by Arts Council England, it invites world class artists to create new works for display in Trafalgar Square. Each year, London schools are invited to enter the Fourth Plinth Schools Awards. The awards give children a chance to get involved with public art and offer new views of London.
Inspired by the work of contemporary artist Michael Rakowitz, Abeer describes her winning entry as follows:

As Michael Rakowitz bases his art pieces on stolen artefacts during the war from his heritage, I want to base my design on Britain’s exploitation of India and all the goods that were stolen from India to be sent over to Britain leaving India vulnerable to become a place of poverty.
The collage is decorated with garam masala, cinnamon sticks, cloves, peppercorn, cardamom, aniseed, bay leaves, fennel and dried red chillies which are Indian spices and Indian tea leaves (Tetley, Yorkshire and PG Tips).

Abeer will receive a prize from Cass Art and her artwork is expected to be exhibited at City Hall later this year. Congratulations to Abeer, and her teacher Mr Grange, for this incredible achievement.

https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/arts-and-culture/current-culture-projects/fourth-plinth-trafalgar-square/fourth-plinth-schools-awards-2020

Young Artists' Summer Exhibition

The art department is pleased to announce that Sara a student in Year 13 has had an oil painting selected for the Young Artists' Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. It’s a fantastic achievement; Sara has dedicated herself to portraiture for the last three years, studying the old masters including Rembrandt and Caravaggio in depth. The chosen portrait though has a much more contemporary feel to it.
This is an impressive achievement acknowledged by the RA who stated:

We received over 17,000 submissions in total and have been blown away by all of the entries this year. In these particularly challenging times, it is wonderful to see so many young people being creative and the positive impact that art can have.
The Summer Exhibition is the largest open submission art show in the world. Each year, a committee of diverse artists choose an array of art in all mediums. The selected work ranges from leading artists, household names, Royal Academians, as well new and emerging talent such as Sara.

Sara described the winning entry as follows:

An A2 oil on canvas painting of my friend Ifrah. A sixth form London based student. The painting has been completed using muted tones with a background left unfinished. This piece was a study in techniques of modern portraiture using a subtle light source; it has hints of a Manet portrait about it, although this was completely accidental.

Due to the corona virus the date for the show has been pushed back to autumn with final dates yet to be announced. Sara and her family will eventually receive invites to the private view when it happens and will get to rub shoulders with some of the top artists of the day. Congratulations to Sara for this fully deserved achievement!

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/summer-exhibition-2020