This year – for the thirteenth time already – the Young Painter Prize (YPP) competition invites the young artists from around the Baltic States to showcase their work. The young artists from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are invited to submit their work by June 30, 2021. The winner of the YPP competition will be announced on November 18, 2021, during the opening of the exhibition of the finalists’ artworks in the MO Museum, Vilnius.
This year, the winner of the YPP competition will awarded with a package of prizes: a two month residency (February–March) at the Nordic Arists’ Centre Dale (Norway) along with the monthly scholarship of NOK 11,000; a cash prize of EUR 3,000; and an opportunity to hold a solo show at the Pamėnkalnio Gallery, Vilnius. The YPP winner’s artwork will also be included in the painting collection of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and will be stored in the National Gallery of Art, Vilnius.
The artworks will be assessed by an international jury: Arild H. Eriksen (art historian, director of the Nordic Artists’ Centre Dale, Norway), Karin Laansoo (artistic director of the KAI Art Center, Estonia), Deimantas Narkevičius (film and video artist, sculptor, Lithuania), Mėta Valiušaitytė (art historian, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (KHI), Florence/Paris), Zane Tuča (painter, winner of the 2013 YPP, Latvia), Gabrielė Radzevičiūtė (art historian and curator, MO Museum, Lithuania).
- The YPP calls for the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian artists to join in for a common goal of presenting their national identities, artistic school practices, and individual creative potential. The art critics have deemed YPP the chronicler of the painters of the young generation and an important regional platform for the artistic career development.
- By welcoming the participants from across the Baltic states, the YPP project aims to present the brightest and most promising painters of the young generation and provide the public with an opportunity to see the dynamic new art. Furthermore, the project aims at helping both local and international professionals – art collectors, managers and curators – discover the new talent from the Baltic states.
- The YPP project is aimed at the art students or graduates who are not older than 30 and work across all the disciplines. The particular age limit has been chosen as a way of focusing on the younger art students and graduates who have not yet had an opportunity to showcase their work. The YPP acknowledges that this category of artists is the most vulnerable and thus requires most extensive material and institutional support.
The YPP entry requirements
- All current art students, graduates and postgraduates are welcome to take part in the competition. At the time of submission, the applicants should be 30 or younger.
- The competition is open exclusively to the applicants from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
- The applicants should only submit paintings created during the period of 2020–2021. Each applicant should pick one painting at their own discretion.
- Applications should be submitted to jtp.ypp@gmail.com by June 30, 2021. The applications should include:
- Artwork photos of high quality (one photo of the artwork submitted for the competition, along with the photos of 4 accompanying artworks). It is essential that the submissions have the following information: the title of the artwork (in English), size, artistic technique, and the completion date. The applicants should also clearly indicate top of the painting. The photos should come in .jpg, .jpeg, .tiff, or .tif formats.
- The application form which can be found online: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwq05bn-2oA4LwUUOFNli26aKgjSMWDIW-UROBPqN_fIOazQ/viewform
- Creative biography (in English).
- The detailed description of the main artwork submitted for the competition (up to 1 page, in English).
- By submitting their application, the artist agrees that, in the case of their becoming the winner of YPP, their artwork will become the property of the YPP organisers.
- The artist applicant shall grant the YPP organisers the right to reproduce their artwork for the purposes of promotion and publicity, and shall not ask for any copyright fees.
- The previous YPP winners cannot participate in the competition.