The John Moores Painting Prize 2016
Since the first John Moores exhibition in 1957 the standard of entries for the painting prize has been extremely high. The contemporary pieces in the 2016 exhibition are stunning examples of modern art, from the stark minimalism of Squint (19) by Michael Simpson, one of the prize winners, through the hyper-detailed Cave Floor by Donal Maloney to the neon and black splendour of Totem by Alex Rennie. Other highlights include the realism of No Ball Games Here by Mandy Payne, The beautiful mirror-effect found in Passageways by Bella Easton and Les Non-reclames  (The Unclaimed) with its unsettling row of full coffins.
In addition to these works, artists from The John Moors Painting Prize (China) are also represented, with works from the five winners on show including Wasteland by Lei Shaowen and Corrupted Land by Wang Wang.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIGKlXYLbTg]
The exhibition runs from July 9 to November 27 at the Walker Art Gallery and forms part of the Liverpool Biennial 2016. Entry is free and there are scheduled talks on a number of Tuesdays at 1pm throughout the duration of the exhibition, giving the opportunity for people to meet some of the artists whose work is on show. Details are available at www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/johnmoores.
