Film London and Channel 4, in association with the Whitechapel Gallery, have announced this year’s Jarman Award. The Award is aimed at mid-career experimental artist film-makers working today and representatives from both the art and film worlds are now being invited to suggest potential winners.

Established in 2008, the Jarman Award honours the memory of the late British artist film-maker Derek Jarman, whose work gained mainstream recognition and has become a global beacon of creative and risk-taking film-making. The annual Award is organised by Film London’s Artists’ Moving Image Network, FLAMIN, and supported by Arts Council England.

The prize for the Jarman Award is comprised of £10,000 cash and a commission for Channel 4’s acclaimed 3 Minute Wonder (3MW). It is the only award where artists are rewarded with both, financial support and the chance to have their work broadcast primetime on a national television channel. Three other shortlisted artists each receive £1,000. In the run up to the Award ceremony in October work from the four shortlisted artists will be screened at a series of special events.

Last year’s winner, Lindsay Seers, represented by Matt’s Gallery in London, was described by the jury as “a compelling storyteller” whose works “effortlessly distil complex ideas into concise and engrossing narratives.” Seers was suggested for the Award following a solid albeit largely undiscovered career. Exhibitions of her work include Altermodern, Fourth Tate Triennial, Tate Britain (2009); It has to be this way, Matt’s Gallery (2009) and Event Horizon, Royal Academy of Art (2008). A new major show, It has to be this way 2 opens at the National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, this week.

Similarly, the winner of the inaugural Jarman Award, Glasgow-based Luke Fowler, has since been the subject of major solo exhibitions at both the Kunsthalle Zürich and the Serpentine Gallery in London. His Jarman Award commission for Channel 4, four pieces titled Anna, Helen, David and Lester, are still available to watch on the 3MW’s website. The artwork by Seers is planned to broadcast later this year.

The winner of the Jarman Award 2010 will be announced at an event at the Whitechapel Gallery in East London in October 2010. This year’s jury will be chaired by Stuart Comer, Tate Modern’s Curator of Film, with Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director, Whitechapel Gallery, also on the panel.

Once again, representatives from the art world including commissioners, artists, critics, cinema programmers and galleries curators will be invited to suggest potential recipients of the Award. Candidates considered include UK-based mid-career artist film-makers whose work embraces the spirit and the legacy of Jarman’s highly experimental approach.

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