Five Painters Featured in Aesthetica Art Prize Roundup Explore Mortality, Collections, and Cinematic Landscapes

Aesthetica Magazine's August 8, 2024 roundup highlights five painters from its art prize whose works address contemporary themes through meticulous technique. Stephen Johnston continues the Old Masters' tradition of mortality in still life with images of decaying food in jars, deconstructed cakes, and roadkill, emphasizing fleeting materialism. Ian Robinson explores personal collections, revealing the passions and hidden characteristics behind accumulated objects. Christopher Stott transforms vintage items like projectors and typewriters into clean oil paintings that invite viewers to connect personal histories. Constance Regardsoe's Trapped Light captures a male figure enmeshed with light in water, referencing the historical ubiquity of female forms in Western art. Teresa Lawler's cinematic compositions, influenced by her background in television and theatre, feature stylized houses in fictitious landscapes with distant cities. The Aesthetica Art Prize offers a £10,000 award, exhibition, and publication, with submissions open until August 31.