
Still Squallings by Daniel Sturgis, 2009 Acrylic on canvas (138 x 213.6 cm)© Daniel Sturgis
Before announcing the winner of the “Oscars of the British painting world," judge Sir Norman Rosenthal described the shortlist as “an exciting, joyful and up-to-date insight into contemporary painting.”
He then handed the £25,000 John Moores Painting Prize to Keith Coventry, whose portrait of Jesus features the most miserable looking messiah you will ever see.
Spectrum Jesus is as dark as a badly aged old master and as blue as a piece of 20th century abstraction. Its subject has lank hair and heavy lidded eyes. It is one of the smaller paintings entered in this year’s competition. The frame and glass cover make it as iconic as it is iconoclastic. Coventry’s statement has depth.

Spectrum Jesus by Keith Coventry, 2009 Oil on canvas, wood and glass (68.6 x 58 cm)© Keith Coventry
Meanwhile The Party by Steve Proudfoot has the quality of a boozy snapshot with a lapsing timeframe. Figures ghost in and out of this family gathering, which is set in a colourless sitting room. The guests drink and look on rather than interact. It does not look as if anyone has any particular desire to be there. Yet it is a compassionate scene.

Protest, 1st April 2009 by Nicholas Middleton, 2010 Oil on canvas (117 x 203.5 cm)© Nicholas Middleton
Finalist Daniel Sturgiss layers busy chequered panels over vibrant strips of orange to produce a crisp and balanced design. And Cornelia Baltes paints an audacious pointing finger on the wall above her canvas, which features a candy pink explosion of glee.
There are 45 artists on show in the shortlist exhibition, all of whom are worth a look. But it’s also worth mentioning the five works chosen from the John Moores Painting Prize China, a bi-annual competition newly introduced this year. Winner Han Feng has painted a stretched and fragile grey passenger jet, both impossible and dreamlike. Painting is still going places, as Big Plane demonstrates.
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