NUA Graduate shortlisted for Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize

Norwich University of the Arts graduate, Justin Harris who studied BA Visual Studies in 1971, has been selected in the UK’s most important prize for contemporary drawing: the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021.

Out of 3,300 entries from 1,673 artists and makers, 101 drawings by 89 creatives were selected for the 2021 exhibition.

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize has an established reputation as the UK’s most important annual open exhibition of drawing. This distinction is a significant milestone in an artist’s career, and gives a lot of recognition for your student and alumni network.

We talk to Justin to find out the inspiration for his drawing which was shortlisted for the prize:

In the late 70’s my family moved to Hong Kong from the UK. My parents found that they loved living in hotels, so I ended up spending my formative years sneaking around the service areas and rooftops of these buildings. The photographs I based this drawing on were taken when I was 12 from the rooftop of the Hong Kong Hilton. 

The utilitarian explosive energy of Hong Kong’s hyperdense architecture made a lasting impression on me and informed my love of brutalist architecture which has been a big theme in my drawings and paintings to date. I only recently found the collection of childhood photographs this work is based on. Working from them was a moving experience connecting me to forgotten versions of myself.

The exhibition of 114 drawings by 99 drawing practitioners will be open to the public in Chainstore North at Trinity Buoy Wharf until 5 December 2021.