3 vie for top artist

THE THREE artists vying for the 2011 Jury and Public prizes in the Super Plus Under-40 Artist of the Year Competition are: Cosmo Whyte (photography), O'Neil Lawrence (photography) and Duane Bennett (jewellery).

They were selected through a rigorous process that started in March. Ten artists entered the competition from which three emerged finalists.

The judges were Dr David Boxer, chief curator of the National Gallery; Petrona Morrison, director of studies, Visual Arts at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Anthony Miller, producer of the television programme, Entertainment Report; Cecil Cooper, former head of the Painting Department at Edna Manley College; and Gilou Bauer, director/curator of the Mutual Gallery.

Cosmo Whyte is originally from Montego Bay but now lives in Atlanta. He got his training in art at Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont (USA), where he gained a BFA in painting, and the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland where he obtained the post baccalaureate. His entry centres on the jonkunnu as his central theme and inspiration.

Duane Bennett is a graduate of the Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts where he gained a bachelor of fine arts in goldsmithing. His entry, which runs along the theme of 'One man's garbage is another man's treasure', incorporates into his designs the use of bubblegum (chewing gum). It will be a symbolic approach of Jamaicans' social release, chatting about various issues.

O'Neil Lawrence is a photographer and curator. He was educated at the University of the West Indies (BA in English literature and sociology) and the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (diploma in visual communication) and is pursuing an M.Phil. in cultural studies at the University of the West Indies. His entry deals with not only his own personal struggles to achieve self-actualisation, but is also a reaction to the struggles other Jamaican men face in creating and realising their own various identities.

The opening was on August 18 2011 and the prize-giving ceremony will be held on Wednesday, 7 p.m. at Mutual Gallery, St Andrew.