Five shortlisted artists for RCSI Art Award announced

The five shortlisted artists for this year's RCSI Art Award have been announced at a ceremony at the RHA in Dublin.

The nominated works are: RHA Site Specific Installation by Miranda Blennerhassett; Vinyl Factory by Colin Martin; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, No 2 by Abigail O'Brien; Angular Momentum by Eilis O'Connell; and Fuji and Fujidelic by Kathy Prendergast.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 4

Shortlistlisted for the RCSI Art Award, Varnishing Day, at the RHA.Abigail O'Brien, Guess Who's Coming to DinnerPhoto Kenneth O Halloran

The shortlist was announced at Varnishing Day, which marks the opening of this year’s RHA Annual Exhibition.

The RCSI Art Award is a celebration of the association between art, medicine and wellbeing and the common heritage of the RCSI and RHA. All works of art selected for the RHA Annual Exhibition in any medium are considered for the RCSI Art Award.

The winner receives €5,000, the RCSI silver medal and a commission to the value of €10,000 for the RCSI collection, and will be announced in June.

The inaugural winner was Remco de Fouw for his work Random Access Memory V. His resulting commission, Atlas and Axis, was recently unveiled at the York Street campus of the RCSI.

The Irish Times is a partner in the competition. This year's award committee includes Prof John Hyland, president of the RCSI; Mick O'Dea, president of the RHA; Patrick T Murphy, director of the RHA; Prof Clive Lee, professor of anatomy at the RCSI and RHA; Dr Abdul Bulbulia, the founder of Waterford Healing Arts; Jane Butler, communications officer at the RCSI; and this writer.