BGF and EY have co-sponsored a new exhibition at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, launched last night to celebrate the achievements of local art students.
The exhibition showcases the work of 18 second and third year students at Gray’s School of Art, selected by teaching staff. As part of the exhibition, a panel of judges from BGF and EY selected their top three exhibits and awarded prizes of £1500, £1000 and £500 to the winning artists.
Lauren Ferguson picked up the top prize for her piece ‘Through the Lens’, Zuzanna Salamon was second place with her work entitled ‘Sometimes I feel sorrow thinking about Bangladesh’, and William Sherval took the third spot for his paintings from his ‘Armstrong Series 1 & 2’.
Keith Grant, head of painting at Gray’s School of Art, said: “The inaugural BGF/ EY exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to showcase some of the outstanding work which has been produced by our second and third year painting students.
“It is very important for us as an art school to have very close links with industry and we are appreciative of the support given by BGF and EY to allow us to curate this brand-new exhibition, which gives our students, and their work, some vital exposure to the local and business communities. A huge congratulations to the winners, but also to all the students who have taken part.”
Mike Sibson, an investor at BGF’s office in Aberdeen, said: “At BGF we look to be a partner to ambitious growth businesses across the UK, and particularly to back talented people. We are very pleased to help promote and support the work of local art students from Gray’s by sponsoring this exhibition, alongside EY, one of our key partners in the market.”
Talking about the sponsorship collaboration, Moira Lawrence of EY, said: “EY has a long history of supporting the arts and we are delighted to co-sponsor this event with BGF to showcase the creative talent at Gray’s School of Art. I was lucky enough to have a private viewing and it was very intriguing to read about the inspiration behind the artists’ work and how their art evolved from inception to the finished product. I was really impressed by the quality of the art and the variety of subject matters explored by the artists.”
The exhibition comes after BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor in growing businesses, held a competition for Gray’s students to contribute paintings to its new office in Golden Square. Around 15 students from Gray’s entered the competition to create pieces based on BGF’s local portfolio companies and two winners were chosen, fourth-year art student Hannah Ross, and recent Gray’s graduate Marcus Murison.
Hannah’s piece of a restaurant table represented Westhill-based catering company Entier and Marcus’s abstract piece over two canvases represented STATS group, the Kintore-based market leaders in the supply of pressurised pipeline isolation, hot tapping and plugging services to the global oil, gas and petrochemical industries.
Mike Sibson said: “On a company visit, we came across and were intrigued by some fantastic art by students from Gray’s. We followed up with the school and commissioned some great pieces by the students for our new office in Golden Square. We are proud to have Hannah and Marcus’s work displayed in our office, representing our portfolio companies and really encapsulating the exciting entrepreneurial spirit of BGF.”
L - R: Mike Sibson, Lauren Ferguson, Zuzanna Salamon and William Sherval.