Mirfield artist shortlisted for new art prize

Gemma Nelson is one of 25 up and coming artists that have been entered into the Kids of Dada exhibition in November.

And she is now in the running to receive their art prize.

Kids of Dada are an agency that curate contemporary art, writing, music and fashion from top emerging artists, designers and writers.

The agency cherry-picked Gemma and selected her work to feature in their members-only gallery, which attracts interest from collectors and big international clients.

She was also shortlisted for their ‘Up and Coming’ exhibition, starting November 7, where she will be in competition for the Kids of Dada Art Prize.

Gemma, 28, who attended Castle Hall School, will have her work judged by some of the biggest figures in the art world, including Turner Prize-nominated artists Jake and Dinos Chapman, Machiko Edmondson, Jessica Voorsanger and Simon English.

Gemma’s paintings create delicate, chaotic tapestries and landscapes made up of colourful fragments.

The work she will be judged on, Rollback Roly Poly was previously shown in her first solo exhibition, Hello Carousel.

Gemma said: “The inspiration for the piece was an abandoned fairground. It is highly obsessive and organic in construction, very detailed like a spider’s web made up of lots of little pieces and structural architectural pathways.”

Gemma graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London in 2007 and has since exhibited in New York, Paris, Dublin and Brussels. She has five forthcoming shows between now and February. And she is also working on her own fashion T-shirt line, in collaboration with Kids of Dada.

“It is early days with the Kids of Dada agency but I am hoping to start my T-shirt line soon and may be working with top designers like Louis Vuitton,” said Gemma. “It is a very exciting time at the minute. Everything is going with a big bang now. I’m very much looking forward to my five upcoming exhibitions and it is especially exciting to have big art critics considering my work for the Kids of Dada art award.”

Gemma is also planning to run some art lectures and workshops at the University of Huddersfield in the near future.