Britain’s best new painters serve up a mixed palette

This year’s Contemporary British Painting Prize is coloured with a wide variety of talent, writes Liam James

Saturday 02 December 2023 01:30 EST

‘Emanator’ (detail, reproduced in full below) (Ben Deakin)

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Britain’s painters are in the limelight this week as one of the art world’s hottest prizes launches its annual exhibition.

The Contemporary British Painting Prize, now open at the Thames-Side Studios Gallery in London, celebrates the art and supports a breadth of working practitioners by promoting the work of many painters who didn’t make the shortlist.

As Simon Carter, co-founder of the prize, says: “The subtext to this is giving voice back to the artist, the originator and source of painting ... This prize is artists submitting themselves to consideration and selection by their peers.”

On the walls in Woolwich this month, visitors will see a great mix of oil and acrylic from this year’s crop of painters.

The main prizewinner – Rich Jellyman with Chicken (1) – was announced in a private viewing at Huddersfield Art Gallery in September. Jellyman, whose work combines painting with internet culture, received £8,000 in prize money and will be given CBP membership and a seat on the judge’s panel for next year’s contest.

Robbie Bushe received the Highly Commended award and its £2,000 prize for his works depicting detailed, invented narratives, often set within ‘architectonic constructions’, celebrating the tropes of sci-fi film and TV.

The Contemporary British Painting Prize 2023 will be on display at Thames-Side Studios Gallery in Woolwich until Sunday 17 December. Keep up to date with @paintbritain on Instagram