ARTDATAintel x BBM Art Prize: What does Darwin say about leading artists?

July 12, 2024

Delving into the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize after 6 years of competitions (2018-2023).

Written by Mauricio Gonzalez, Founder & CEO ARTDATAintel

Darwin said: “Every species has to fight harder and more often to retain its leadership position than it originally did to acquire it.” Animals must keep fighting harder to stay king of the jungle. Fish must swim faster to cross the seas first and birds must fly higher to own the skies. In a similar fashion so must Painters, Photographers, Sculptors, and Digital Artists.

Most Art Competitions accept only individual ‘species’ making it easier to select those with “the sharper beaks, the longer horns or the brightest feathers.” What makes the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize so special is that it strategically mixes all the ‘species’ into one to compete for leadership in a single arena to be the champion of the Beautiful Bizarre art world.

During its 6-year history, the competition has received thousands of submissions but only 725 awards have been given (counting Winners, Honourable Mentions and Finalists) to 515 artists. Here we celebrate the Top 16 most awarded artists. These are the ones who have demonstrated their sheer talent and will to retain their leadership positions by winning the most awards from 2018 to 2023.

Using the power of ARTDATAintel’s multi-year statistics, we will now recount the 4 leaders and 12 challengers at the top of the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize.

The 4 leaders are:

1. Sarah Lee

1^st Prize, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Founders’ Emerging Artist Award, 2023

American sculptor, master eggshell manipulator artist Sarah Lee has accumulated six Beautiful Bizarre awards!

sarah-lee-yin-yang — Example of her work: “Yin and Yang”, Quail eggshells, clay, resin, fiberglass, plastic, 28 x 29 x 36 inches

2. Jessica Dalva

Finalist, Yasha Young Sculpture Award 2021

American sculptor, illustrator and fabricator artist Jessica Dalva has accumulated six Beautiful Bizarre awards!

Jessica-Dalva-Wading-Through — Example of her work: “Wading Through”, Mixed media sculpture with resin

3. Kristine & Colin Poole

2^nd Prize Winner, Yasha Young Sculpture Award 2023

American sculptors and painting artists Kristine & Colin Poole have accumulated six Beautiful Bizarre awards!

poole-dove-dreams-of-flying-1 — Example of their work: “Dove Dreams of Flying”, Fired clay, acrylic, 18 x 24 x 15 in.

4. Ed Binkley

Finalist, RAYMAR Traditional Art Award, 2022

11-Ed-Binkley — Example of his work: “Listener”, Coloured Pencil and Acrylic

American fantasy artwork painter and illustrator artist Ed Binkley has accumulated five Beautiful Bizarre awards!

The 12 challengers are:

5. Beth Mitchell

Finalist, Photography award, 2021

Australian underwater photographic artist Beth Mitchell has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

Beth-Mitchell-Amphitrite-inprnt — Example of her work: “Amphitrite”, digital photograph

6. Brittany Markert

Finalist, INPRNT Photography Award 2023

American artist, photographer and filmmaker Brittany Markert has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

15136_Brittany-Markert-Photography — Example of her work: “A Key to Dreams, Paris, 2023”. Analogue Photograph: Hasselblad 500c/80mm/ Coffee-Toned Ilford Warmtone FB. Self Portrait featuring Kayla Palmer

7. Georgie Seccull

Honorable Mention, 2022 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize

Australian sculptor and installation artist Georgie Seccull has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

Georgie-Seccull-sculpture — Example of her work: “She Who Demands Devotion”. Treated Stainless Steel, 18″ x 32″ x 19″

8. Ingrid Baars

2^nd Prize Winner Digital Art Award, 2023

Dutch photo-collage artist Ingrid Baars has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

Ingrid-Baars-rose — Example of her work: “ROSE”, Nikon D850, iMac, Photoshop

9. Jason Mowry

2^nd Prize Winner, RAYMAR Traditional Art Award 2023

American painter and illustrator artist Jason Mowry has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

15068_Jason Mowry-painting — Example of his work: “Abominable Companion”, Watercolour, Gouache, pencil, and ink on paper, 15 x 15 in.

10. Jenny Boot

1^st Prize Winner, INPRNT Photography Award 2022

Dutch photographic and painting artist Jenny Boot has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

Jenny Boot - beautiful bizarre art prize winner - photography — Example of her work: “Origin”, Digital, Fuji GFX 50S2, Model: Norah Namuddu

11. Lilli Waters

Finalist, INPRNT Photography Award 2019

Australian photographic artist Lilli Waters has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

Lilli-Waters-Utero — Example of her work: “Utero”. Digital Photography, Canon Mark iii, 24-70mm

12. Lo Chan Peng

Grand Prize Winner of the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize 2023

Taiwanese painter and illustration artist Lo Chan Peng has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

13. Natalia Kovachevski

Finalist, INPRNT Photography Award 2023

French photographer and reporter Natalia Kovachevski has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

Natalia-Kovachevski_underwater-photography — Example of her work: “Human Being”. Digital photography [GoPro]

14. Psyche Ophiuchus

Finalist, INPRNT Photography Award 2022

French photographer and model Psyche Ophiuchus has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

Psyche-Ophiuchus-photography — Example of her work: “Grecian Reverie”. Digital photograph, NIKON D600 / 50mm / F/6.3, Self portrait

15. Sara Gallagher

Finalist, RAYMAR Traditional Art Award, 2023

American graphite and pastel artist Sara Gallagher has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

14182-Sara-Gallagher — Example of her work: “The Rewrite”, Graphite and panpastel on paper

16. Stephanie Rew

3^rd Prize Winner, RAYMAR Traditional Art Award 2023

Scottish figurative realist painting artist Stephanie Rew has accumulated four Beautiful Bizarre awards!

Stephanie Rew-painting — Example of her work: “Sail to Me”, Egg Tempera and 24ct gold leaf, 40 x 30 cm.

Remember leaders, you’ll have to fight harder and more often to retain your positions against the bold challengers out there. So, which of these artists will win yet another award in 2024, during the 7^th Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize?

To help you decide here’s an exclusive link to preview some of the stunning submissions in our Traditional Art, Photography, Sculpture and Digital Art categories, plus our newest Emerging Artist category. The announcement of the winners will be made in September 2024.

Make sure to follow @ARTDATAintel, the most powerful and longitudinal data-driven study for Collectors and Artists in order to enjoy unparalleled insight into the leaders of our wonder-filled industry.

By exploring 500,000+ submissions and identifying more than 9,200 award-winning artists from diverse art contests over the past 14 years, ARTDATAintel is able to provide industry trends along with statistics on an artist’s multi-year performance, his or her ranking among peers, consistency across contests, rising trends and more.

Mauricio Gonzalez is the founder & CEO ARTDATAintel. A 20 years advertising industry veteran, who has managed the world most prestigious brands. Extensive experience in creativity, strategy, research and statistical analysis. This skill set helped inspire the creation of ARTDATAintel.

Mauricio-Gonzalez-ARTDATAintel — Mauricio Gonzalez, ARTDATAintel

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About Author

Natalia Joruk

Based in the UK, Natalia Joruk enjoys a life surrounded by art, nature, and curious trinkets. As Deputy Editor, she's worked closely with the Editor-in-Chief for over a decade, supporting with the design and growth of Beautiful Bizarre and the maintenance of the annual Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize. Natalia also oversees sponsor partnerships for the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, and distribution of the magazine, so drop her an email if you know someone who would like to sponsor or stock! She also writes for both the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine website and print publication. One of her favourite perks is getting to know artists, gallery owners and their teams personally, so feel free to email her if there is anything she can help you with – or just to connect.