Entries to the 2022 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize have officially closed, and the judging process is now underway. Our sincere thanks to all of the artists and photographers that entered. It is another year of a broad range of stunning entries and we are very excited!
As well as discovering a host of amazing new artists, it is wonderful to see artists who entered in previous years entering again. It’s a delight to see the ongoing evolution of their work.
Danijela Krha-Purssey
2022 has been another difficult year for us all with many challenges. We have seen and appreciate the many entries which share your different experiences, from the ongoing pandemic to mental and emotional struggles. Additionally, we have also received many entries filled with hope, magic, and playfulness. The array of stories shared through the artworks are thought provoking – and once again, we find ourselves discovering a host of magnificent new artists.
It is also wonderful to see artists who entered in previous years entering again this year. As we have mentioned before, every year is a new Art Prize complete with a new Jury Panel to choose the Finalists and Winners. We love seeing the evolution of artists’ works year on year!
A truly international Art Prize
Artists from an incredible 85 different countries entered the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize 2022!
We have received entries from an incredible 85 different countries this year – wow!! Entries have been received from: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Uruguay.
Excitingly, we saw entries from a host of new countries as well. New entrant countries include entries from: Azerbaijan, Barbados, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Lesotho, Macedonia, Martinique, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Turks & Caicos Islands, Vietnam. Welcome new entrants, and good luck!!
Entries were received in various Traditional mediums across the fields of painting, drawing, collage, art dolls, installation, fibre art, embroidery and mixed media. We have received sculptures in multiple mediums including metal, wood, plaster, stone, many resins, ceramic, clay, wool, found objects, beads, human hair and LED lights! The Digital Art category has seen an array of digital painters, digital sculptors, digital 3D artists and photomanipulation artists enter, along with with the new addition of some AI-collaborative entries as well. And last but not least, the Photography category provided the opportunity for fine art photographers from around the world to enter both their digital and analogue photography.
Judging Underway
Thanks to this process, our Editor-in-Chief Danijela Krha Purssey and her team have once again discovered a remarkable amount of amazing new talent. We look forward to sharing with you a sample of these wonderful entries over the coming weeks and months! The December issue will also feature a special editorial presenting the Overall Winner of the 2022 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and the Winners in each category. Purchase a print subscription now to make sure you don’t miss out on this and many other inspiring stories.
Judging has now commenced by this year’s Jury Panel. The jury panel is made up of: Beautiful Bizarre Co-Founders, Danijela Krha Purssey and Richard Purssey; Directors of Modern Eden Gallery, Kim Larson and Bradley Platz; Vicki Fox, owner of Quirky Fox Gallery; representatives from our major partners: INPRNT‘s leader of Independent Design + Creative Strategy, Ashley Heafy; RAYMAR President & Creative Director, Emilie Dietrich; Yasha Young Projects Founder Yasha Young, and the Licensing Manager at iCanvas, Sally Wolff.
These are joined by esteemed contemporary artists: Martin Wittfooth (Traditional Art juror), Bella Kotak (Photography juror), Coderch & Malavia (Sculpture jurors) and Dan dos Santos (Digital Art juror) who will be reviewing work in their respective areas of expertise.
As you can imagine, this is NOT an easy job with so many exceptional entries in all categories! Stay tuned for the big reveal soon.
2022 Award Categories
- RAYMAR Traditional Art Award
- INPRNT Photography Award
- iCanvas Digital Art Award
- Yasha Young Projects Sculpture Award
- ArtStation People’s Choice Award
Timeframes & Deadlines
- Midnight 31 July 2021 [New York Time]: Entries close
- 10 – 12 August 2022: Judging
- 15 August onward: Shortlist of 125 Finalists [25 per Award category: Digital Art, Photography, Sculpture; 50 for the Traditional Art Award category] announced
- 26 August [AEDT, Australian Eastern Daylight Time]: People’s Choice voting opens
- 9 September [AEDT, Australian Eastern Daylight Time]: People’s Choice voting closes
- Week of the 12th of September: Winners announced
- 12 Sept: Yasha Young Projects Sculpture Award Winners announced
- 13 Sept: INPRNT Photography Award Winners announced
- 14 Sept: iCanvas Digital Art Award Winners announced
- 15 Sept: RAYMAR Traditional Art Award Winners announced
- 16 Sept: Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize Grand Prize Winner, Honourable Mentions & ArtStation People’s Choice Winner announced
- 5 November – 3 December 2022: Beautiful Bizarre curated exhibition ‘Halcyon Days’ at Modern Eden Gallery, in San Francisco, CA United States. (Note: Prize winners are expected to exhibit a work in the ‘Halcyon Days’ exhibition in November 2022. Winners may exhibit their prize winning entry if it was created within 12 months of the entry date and not hung in any other exhibition or prize previously. Work already exhibited or hung in a Prize will not be accepted to the ‘Halcyon Days’ exhibition. If the prize-winning work is not eligible to be exhibited in the exhibition, or if the artist chooses, they may create a new work for the exhibition that responds to the ‘Halcyon Days’ theme.)
Until then, enjoy some of the wonderful entries below…
“Ship of Theseus” (Oil on canvas)
“Scent of Broq-pa 08042020D” (Digital: Canon EOS mark 4, 50mm lens)
“Space” (Oil on linen)
“Koi and Chrysanthemum” (Digital painting: Adobe Photoshop)
“Trapped (Electric Fawn)” (Plexiglass, LED light, wood, glass, rechargeable battery)
“Cold Waters” (Digital photograph: Canon EOS 6D Mark II – 16-35mm f/2.8 – Ikelite housing). Model: Karyna Kudzina.
“White Sun” (Oil on canvas)
“Captive” (Digital photograph: Canon EOS 6D, 50mm F1.4)
“Time to connect” (Photomanipulation: Adobe Photoshop)
“NGC 6302” (Preserved (ethically sourced) real insect specimens)
“Frozen in the Age of Holocene” (Digital photograph: Canon 5D Mark 3, Canon 10/1.2). Art director – Bam-Bam @bam.bam.billa , Photographer – Dasha Almazova @photo_by_dasha_almazova , Model – Dwika Pradnyana @dwikapradnyana , MUA – Azyzah @_azyzah , Assistant art director – Calista Sarah @calistasarah.
“Helix” (Graphite and carbon pencil, with a touch of white acrylic)
“Clash Titan” (Plaster and wood)
“Le Grande Arcade” (Oil on panel)
“Floral Inundations” (Oil on wood panel)
“Water Nymph” (Digital painting & drawing: Adobe Photoshop and ZBrush)
“Sumie” (Sumi ink & charcoal on wooden panel covered with drawing paper)
“Erysichthon And Demeter” (Gouache, paper)
“Sir” (Found objects, glass, ceramic, fabric, human hair, polymer clay, pastels, plaster)
“Why Should Things Be Easy To Understand?” (Oil on linen canvas)
“Twelve” (Digital photograph: Olympus OMD EM5)
“Maria and Hanna” (Oil on canvas)
“The Druid” (Acrylic resin, roots, metal, plexiglass, neon lights)
“Beyond The Veil” (Oil on Birch wood panel)
“I Have A Dream” (Digital photograph: Nikon Z7 Camera – Nikkor S 70-200mm f/2.8 S Lens – Broncolor Siros L 800 Studio Light – Adobe Photoshop CC). Model: Mercy Woods.
“Free” (Ink)
“The Last Song II” (Bead work, antique ceramic bird head, glass dome)
“Mana” (Oil on canvas)
“Dove” (Digital 3 Dimensional: Meta RiftS/Adobe Medium, Luxion Keyshot)
“WITCH” (Digital photograph: Nikon Z7). Model: Shae McDermott.
“California Day Dreamer” (Oil painting on panel)
“There’s a rainbow after every storm” (Oil on linen)
“Soulmates” (Polymerclay cosclay, wire, wood painted with acrylics)
“Behind Blue Eyes” (Digital painting & drawing: Procreate)
“Storms Will Pass But I Remain” (Ink, charcoal and pastel on paper)
“Veil” (Digital photograph: Canon 5d Mark III/RF 85mm f/1.2L II USM)
“Dan and Dog” (Oil on canvas)
“Pasture Puff” (Porcelain, glaze, underglaze)
“Nature.Mort.” (Acrylic, mixed media)
“Truong Son” (Digital photograph: Sony Alpha 7R II, 90mm lens). Model: Trang Pham.
“Forest Spirit” (Digital painting & drawing: Wacom Intuos tablet / Adobe Photoshop CS5.1)
“Night Side Of Eden” (Digital collage: Adobe Photoshop). Model: Justyna Neryng.
“Carlos Antonio Rancaño” (Oil on linen)
“Dino Witch” (Mineral clay, lace, Woody)
“This is No Place” (Digital photograph: Sony A7RIII)
“Everything You Love” (Polymer clay, metal, pigments, acrylics, natural crystals grown directly on the sculpture)
“Lethé” (Analogue photography: NIKON D600 / 24mm / F/3.5). Models: Yoann Lossel and Psyche Ophiuchus.
“Orchid Moon” (Digital painting & drawing: Procreate)
“The Pitcher Thieves” (Oil on wood panel)
“RED MARENA” (Withe Resin)
“Listener” (Colored Pencil and Acrylic)
“The King” (Digital photograph: Camera PhaseOne iq80, Broncolor Flash)
“The end of the World” (Acrylic on fibreboard)
“Maki-san” (Polymer clay)
“Wound Exit” (Digital painting & drawing: Wacom Cintiq, Clip Studio Paint, Union, Macbook Pro)
“The Annunciation” (Oil paint and silver leaf on linen)
“Scriptum I” (Silk Organza, thread, paper, wire)
“A Spring poem” (Analogue photography: Kiev 60 TTL camera, Volna-3 MC 80mm f/2.8 lens, Lomography Color Negative 120 ISO 800). Model: Carolina Grinn.
“Cradle Wonder” (Oil on board)
“A Gaze That Follows'” (Digital painting & drawing: Procreate & Clipstudio)
“Matchstick” (Galvanized steel, anodized and enameled copper and silver wire and glass)
“Sirens – Ariel'” (Digital collage: Adobe Photoshop)
The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize is administered by Australian based, international contemporary art magazine, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.
