Provocative posters win Saatchi's 'art idol' contest
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Meet the heir to Tracey Emin's throne. Sarah Maple, a 22-year-old Muslim from Brighton, is crowned the best of the new young British artists, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. She beat 20 contenders in a competition organised by the art collector Charles Saatchi and judged by the sculptor Antony Gormley and the gallery owner Sadie Coles.
Lord Saatchi has enlisted the aid of established artists to select the winners of the first "art idol" competition. Of the four finalists, three already have already been snapped up by collectors.
Maple's work features photographs of herself in politically provocative situations. The "Vote for Me" series, which won her the competition from an initial entry of hundreds of final-year students, shows her dressed as a Playboy bunny or in hijab with the slogan "Vote for Me – or else you're sexist/homophobic".
Gormley described her work as "direct and playful". He added: "She is playing out, in a way, notions of Western freedom of choice in terms of identity. It's very emotive stuff. She is using the female notion of appropriateness to explain political and personal realism." Maple's work now belongs to Channel 4, which co-sponsored the New Sensations competition.
She said yesterday: "I did a mock political campaign. My work takes the mick out of political correctness gone mad. I got an angry response from some people. It was good to get a reaction, but I do think PC is daft. I think a lot of people are trying to make sure that nobody gets offended.
"I'll probably move on from that now. I don't want to be the one who just does work about Islam. A lot of my work is about identity."
The competition was open to art students in their final year of study. Hundreds of entries were whittled down to 20.
The art collector Anita Zabludowicz, also a judge, has bought the entries of two of the other four finalists, Marcus Lanyon, 26, and Mark Melvin, 28, both from London. "I was incredibly surprised by the excellence of the work. Their art seemed to me to be of museum quality." The entry of the fourth finalist, Mie Olise Kjaergaard, 33, has been bought by a private collector.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments