UCA Farnham Fine Art Student Success - Daniel Soares & Katie McGurk

UCA Farnham Fine Art year 2 student Daniel Soares recently curated a group show "Nowness Now" in Vienna, Austria, that included the work of UCA year 3 student Katie McGurk.

UCA Farnham Fine Art Student Success - Daniel Soares & Katie McGurk

UCA Farnham Fine Art student Daniel Soares who has just successfully completed year 2, is currently preparing for the opening of a group exhibition he has curated in Vienna, Austria.  The exhibition also includes the work of year 3 Fine Art student Katie McGurk.

This is what Daniel had to say about his motivation for pulling the show together.

"I've been wanting to do an exhibition for a while and came out here with the idea that I'd somehow put one on. I'll be looking to do this again. I had to change my attitude quite drastically though in order to work with others which is something I struggled with before, so it was a personal issue I had. 

In the end though I don't think its the be all end all, it might be a shit show it might be great but it certainly won't be the last. I realised once I got things running that I'd rather just make work and not think about exhibitions too much, whereas before the idea of having to put something in exhibition made me really anxious. But after taking the first step into the realm of independent exhibiting, I don't think it's a big deal, but I look forward to working with others to get it done, and its quite a fun thing to do. 

Its a very social activity I think and what's a nightmare for me, some people are natural with and some people aren't. It's about finding a balance and working with each other's strengths. Its just getting together and doing it. However though, I did network and get to know how things are done. You have to make it happen, meet like minded people and commit to doing something. I was probably quite lucky in that sense, I did make good contacts."

UCA Farnham Student Success at the Hans Brinker Painting Prize 2013, Amsterdam

UCA Farnham Fine Art students have spent the last week in Amsterdam preparing for the Hans Brinker Painting Prize of 5,000 Euros (£4,500). Universities across the UK and Europe nominated their best painting students to exhibit their work and be judged for the prize via public vote. 

The students where able to add to their experience of exhibiting whilst at UCA, but within a new and competitive context. Students were able to work together across institutions to curate their allocate exhibition spaces, and afterwards engage in critique sessions. 

Whilst a student from Plymouth University was the lucky recipient of the public vote prize, it UCA student Joe Presland who had the good fortune to sell his work to a collector for a considerable amount.

Hans Brinker Painting Prize Exhibition Invitation

The 5 UCA Farnham Fine Art students nominated for the Hans Brinker Painting Prize in Amsterdam: Katie McGurk, Alexios Tupay, Anna Garrett, Freya Morter and Joe Presland had their paintings packed up and set off today. We would like to extend a UCA invitation to the competition exhibition if you are able to be there. More updates next week on the students' progress live from Amsterdam.