Paul Smith’s Foundation & Winsor & Newton Champion Emerging Artists with International Art Prize

In an era that moves at breakneck speed—where moments are consumed as quickly as they are forgotten—the Paul Smith’s Foundation and Winsor & Newton International Art Prize 2024 offers a compelling counterpoint: a call to slow down, observe, and create. This prize, a collaboration between Paul Smith’s Foundation and Winsor & Newton, is more than a recognition of emerging talent; it is a testament to the enduring power of art to shape the way we see the world.

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see,” Edgar Degas once said. And that, at its heart, is the essence of this prize. In honouring six artists from six major creative capitals—London, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong—amplifies voices that transform ordinary perception into something extraordinary.

Selected through an open call, the winners embody the breadth and vitality of contemporary art. Their works, rich with personal narratives and cultural resonance, reflect an ever-shifting creative landscape. Some draw from the grandeur of life, others from the quiet intimacy of home, while still others engage with the evolving interplay between art and technology. Each artist offers a distinct perspective—one shaped by experience, vision, and the spirit of the moment.

More than an ornament for the mantlepiece, the prize provides artists with tangible resources to further their practice. Each winner received £1,000 in materials from Winsor & Newton and an additional £1,000 from Paul Smith’s Foundation, a meaningful investment in their artistic journey.

With the theme Finding Inspiration Everywhere, they were challenged to create new works that transcend geographical and personal boundaries. The result? A collection of pieces as varied as the cities they represent, each one a marker of human creativity and resilience.

Art Without Borders

Art is universal, yet deeply personal. The six winners of the International Art Prize 2024 embody this duality, with works that weave together identity, memory, place, and innovation. Their journeys, chronicled in the documentary With Artists, narrated by Paul Smith, explore the boundless nature of artistic inspiration.

London – Shannon Bono, Jeremiah 29:11 (2024)

Shannon Bono’s paintings channel Afrocentrist thought, centering Black womanhood as a vessel of wisdom and resilience. Her winning piece, Jeremiah 29:11, crafted in oil, acrylic, image transfer, and spray paint, contemplates the biblical verse: “For I know the plans I have for you,” a reflection on faith and destiny.

New York – Takura Suzuki, Oscillation of Petals (2024)

Technology and humanity intersect in Takura Suzuki’s work. His acrylic on canvas still-life study captures the tension between permanence and transience, inspired by a visit to London’s National Gallery. The piece meditates on digital influences in a world where the fleeting and the fixed constantly collide.

Paris – Matthieu Livrieri, Les Lueurs Matinales (2024)

A homage to family and tradition, Matthieu Livrieri’s coloured pencil work depicts his mother’s kitchen in Grenoble. Through his vibrant, expressive visual language, Livrieri captures the warmth of home, turning an ordinary moment into something extraordinary through layered perspectives and radiant hues.

Tokyo – Brittni Bell Warshaw, To Add Another (2024)

Returning to painting after a decade-long hiatus, Brittni Bell Warshaw infuses her work with themes of motherhood, identity, and evolution. Working from a small living room studio, with her young daughter often present, she draws from the soft, romantic hues of Renaissance paintings, using acrylic and pastels to depict her intimate, everyday world.

Los Angeles – Adam de Boer, Palm Reflection No. 2 (Blue) (2024)

East LA’s Echo Park is the setting for Adam de Boer’s Batik-inspired piece. Blending Western oil painting with Southeast Asian craft traditions, he captures the interplay of light and water, reflecting his continued exploration of place and belonging through richly textured dyeing techniques.

Hong Kong – Chan Wai Lap, You Come to Me on a Summer Breeze (Budapest) (2024)

A poetic tribute to shared public spaces, Chan Wai Lap’s pencil-on-paper work reconstructs a Budapest swimming pool, tile by tile, exploring the delicate balance between private introspection and communal experience. As a latecomer to swimming, he finds solace and cultural connection in these urban sanctuaries.

A Visionary Panel

Art is shaped not only by the hands of the artists but also by those who nurture and champion creativity. The International Art Prize 2024 brought together a distinguished panel of judges:

• Ekow Eshun – Curator, writer, and broadcaster, Chair of the Fourth Plinth in London
• Aina Bhargava – Arts and Culture Editor of Tatler Asia
• Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn – Founder of Salon 94 and Salon 94 Design
• Kyoko Hattori – Vice President of Pace, Japan
• Fabien Vallerian – International Director of Arts & Culture at Ruinart
• César García-Alvarez – Co-founder and Artistic Director of The Mistake Room

Their expertise ensured that the winners not only demonstrated technical brilliance but also pushed the boundaries of artistic expression in new and unexpected ways.

With Artists: A Filmic Exploration

Paul Smith’s narration of With Artists offers a window into the lives and practices of the six winners, emphasizing how inspiration emerges from the seemingly mundane to the profoundly moving. The film reminds us that creativity flourishes in both grand landscapes and quiet corners, in tradition and rebellion, in the personal and the universal.

The International Art Prize 2024 validates the voices of emerging artists, offering them a global platform to be seen and heard. Through collaboration, mentorship, and exposure, Paul Smith’s Foundation and Winsor & Newton have created an outlet where talent meets opportunity—where the next generation of artists can confidently step forward into the world of art.

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