Last April, Converse teamed up with Dazed & Confused to launch the Converse/Dazed 2010 Emerging Artists Award, a major art prize designed to offer an exciting platform to emerging artists under the age of 35, a first prize of £6,000 and each of the four short listed artists £1,000. A panel of art industry insiders made up of Sadie Coles, Mark Titchner, Tim Marlow, Tom Morton, Isobel Harbison and Dazed visual arts editor Francesca Gavin decided between hundreds of entries on a shortlist of five: Francesca Anfossi, Steve Bishop, Laura Buckley, Peter Ainsworth and Jess Flood-Paddock.

Having announced the overall winner of the Converse/Dazed 2010 Emerging Artists Award as Peter Ainsworth, Converse and Dazed & Confused then went on to display work from Ainsworth’s ‘Covered’ series at the Stephen Friedman Gallery last year, alongside the work of the other four shortlisted artists.

Francesca Gavin, Dazed's visual arts editor, said: “Peter’s work stood out to the judging panel for his ability to transform a deeply personal and near autobiographical experience into an abstract idea for the audience to engage with. His use of photography to document his objects lends an air of authenticity to the work and is an exciting use of the medium".

Links:
Converse / Dazed 2010 Emerging Artists Award
2010 Final winner accouncement

2010 Winner: Peter Ainsworth