The Sunny Art Prize is sponsored by Art Council England and has established itself as one of the UK’s most prestigious international art competitions. The scope of this contemporary art prize is about sourcing the most talented artists from all over the world, both established and emerging, who produce ground-breaking and innovative artworks. We select artists who work with a wide range of media, making the art prize a varied and stimulating global platform to engage with critical contemporary issues and topics. The art competition is open to everyone, regardless of location or preferred medium and theme.
Every year, we shortlist 30 artists, among whom we select three winners. All the shortlisted artists have the opportunity to exhibit their work at the Sunny Art Centre, London, a prestigious art institution with an extraordinary collection of old masters and artworks by leading contemporary artists. The winners, alongside seven other artists chosen from the shortlist, have the chance to exhibit their work with our partnering galleries in China. The exhibiting galleries are located in cities across China, such as Beijing and Shanghai. They are amongst the leading art institutions in the Asian art market.
This art contest also gives the art prize-winners the chance to experience a one-month artist residency in China. The Artist Residency Programme is organised in collaboration with established Chinese art institutions, and it provides the opportunity to engage with historically and culturally rich places in China.
Don’t miss the opportunity to experience exhibiting in multiple international exhibitions and participating in a residency in China, visit our “Apply Now” page and submit your application today.
27 shortlisted artists will also participate in a group exhibition at the Sunny Art Centre, London. From these 27, 7 artists will be selected to exhibit their works at one of our partners’ galleries in China along with the three Prize winners.
Submissions are accepted from every country in the world and are all equally judged. Please note that you must be at least 18 years old to enter the competition.
All 2D work such as painting, drawing, projected videos (including moving images and installation) must be 120x120cm in size max.
All three-dimensional work, including sculptures, ceramics, and mixed media artworks, must be 80x80x80cm max in size. Installation art (whether made of mixed media or digital) must be assembled on-site at the exhibiting location and can reach 100x100x100cm max.
We wish to find artists who are engaging with pressing contemporary issues.
Winners of previous editions did so by raising awareness of global issues and themes ranging from climate change, the current international debate regarding immigration and refugees to our perception of identity, gender, and much more.
