New Sensations with Absolut

Saatchi Art and Absolut are delighted to announce the return of the Studio Fund as part of this year’s New Sensations Exhibition in London opening until October 18th.

The first spirit brand to forge genuinely close ties with the art community, Absolut has been active in the art world since 1986, when it invited Andy Warhol to create the first in a series of iconic advertisements inspired by the Absolut bottle. Since then, Absolut has collaborated with more than 1000 artists on over 800 commissioned projects including collaborations with Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Louise Bourgeois, Annie Liebovitz – and more recently Spike Jonze, Swedish House Mafia and Icona Pop.

Absolut’s latest limited edition, the Absolut Warhol, follows the brand’s celebrated tradition of introducing cutting-edge designs and limited edition. The Warhol edition is black with blue, pink and yellow details – replicating Andy Warhol’s original Absolut Warhol painting.

Using the bottle as inspiration, Absolut asked the finalists of New Sensations 2014 to create a new, original artwork, exploring the theme of transformation. 25 graduates from BA and MA courses at UK and the Republic of Ireland colleges and universities were chosen by the judges: gallery founder and curator Ceri Hand, renowned artist Tom Hunter, arts writer Jessica Lack, Bloomberg New Contemporaries director Kirsty Ogg, and Saatchi Art chief curator Rebecca Wilson.

Of these 25 artists, one was selected as the overall winner of the Absolut Studio Fund:

Charles Richardson (The Slade School of Fine Art)
Rehearsal, 2014

“I explore such themes as autobiography, male identity, popular culture and historicity: patterns that weave themselves into the contemporary. It is the incompatibilities in this weave that especially fascinate me. However, I do not wish to objectify my subjective experience, rather I prefer to create work that stands on its own two feet producing autonomous and seductive experiences.”






Three runners up included:

Emily Motto (Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford)
Absolut Play, 2014

Jessica Ramm (Edinburgh College of Art)
Source, 2014

Felicity Hammond (Royal College of Art, London)
Curing Agent, 2014

Their work will be unveiled at the exhibition which is held every October. The exhibition is recognized as a not-to-miss art event during Frieze Week in London, offering collectors an unparalleled opportunity to see the most exciting emerging art from across the U.K. The overall winner of the Absolut Studio Fund will receive financial support to help fund a studio space for 12 months.