2015 Awardee: Blair McLaughlin

My commitment and focus to my work is 100%. [It] depicts my view of the world and is very personal to me.

Biography

Ayrshire-born painter Blair McLaughlin is a committed artist with a distinctive style.

Whilst in his third year of a BA (Hons) at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Blair gained an ERASMUS award to study abroad for a semester in Nantes, France. His grades at the host university were so outstanding, he was offered the opportunity to continue his studies there for the whole year. After his graduation in 2014, Blair received significant recognition for his work, gaining a place on the long-list for the Saatchi New Sensations Award.

Since this time Blair has continued to develop his practice, and his work has proved popular with galleries and exhibitors. His paintings focus on the cultural differences in our consumption of violence and the aestheticization of violence in popular culture and media.

Blair has been accepted to study a Masters at Glasgow School of Art, and is expected to have a promising future ahead of him.

How the Award Helped

Blair received a Dewar Arts Award to fund his place on the Turps Banana Correspondence Course.  This provides a critical framework to support individual studio practice through an online mentoring scheme. This period will be one of the most important and influential in Blair’s career, offering not only support but access to a wider peer group that will put his excellent work into the national network that it deserves.

Since the Award

2014 – Long-listed for New Sensations Saatchi Award

My commitment and focus to my work is 100%. [It] depicts my view of the world and is very personal to me.