Curator, art advisor, and Director of Affordable Art Fair UK, Hugo Barclay is a Guest Judge for Jackson’s Art Prize 2025. With an acute understanding of the gallery ecosystem, he is particularly passionate about nurturing living artists and the galleries supporting them. In this interview, he discusses his creative background, what made him choose his Judge’s Choice Award winner last year, and leaning into his instincts when looking through the entries.
Guest Judges
Anita Klein: Printmaker and painter, fellow and past president of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers
Anne Rothenstein: Artist represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery, RWA Academician
Péjú Oshin: Curator, writer, and lecturer whose work sits at the intersection of art, style, and culture
Hugo Barclay: Director of Affordable Art Fair UK, Curator, and Art Advisor
Joshua Donkor: Artist, member of the Contemporary British Portrait Painters
Andrew Torr: Artist, winner of Jackson’s Art Prize 2024 with his painting ‘Estate’
Interview with Hugo Barclay
Josephine: Welcome back to the judging panel for the third year! Can you tell us a little bit about your journey in the art world and how it led to your current role as director of the art firm UK?
Hugo: My journey into the creative industry really came from my childhood. I come from a family of creatives; both my parents are practicing vocational artists, so I grew up at home with a studio. So the idea of ideation, of making art and of creative freedom came very naturally. At the age of 12, I was awarded an Art and Design Scholarship, and that gave me the confidence to jump into the industry and explore the idea of understanding how to see.
Early in my career, I quickly came to terms with the idea that I wanted to focus more on the commercial side of the industry. So I’ve curated exhibitions, worked with galleries to leverage the internet, worked on art commissions and of course, art fairs, which is what I do now. Art fairs bring together both a huge amount of people who want to buy and engage with art, and of course, the art galleries, who support all the represented artists who work tirelessly to produce art.
The Jackson’s Art Prize stand at Affordable Art Fair, 2024
Josephine: Last year, you chose Sugar Plum Words, as your Judges Choice Award winner. What was it about Melanie Berman’s work that spoke to you, and was it hard to choose a favourite from the longlist?
Hugo: It truly is a challenging objective to go through so many submissions and choose just one person from thousands, but Melanie’s work really stood out to me. There was an interesting relationship between the colour, shape, and negative space in her practice. That drew me in and wanted me to explore more about the interplay of those things.
Sugar Plum Words, 2024
Melanie Berman
Acrylic on linen, 70 x 60 cm | 27.55 x 23.62 in
Josephine: What did you find most enjoyable when judging the competition last year, and were there any memorable moments?
Hugo: It’s the third time that I’ve judged Jackson’s Art Prize, and one of the things that I find so enjoyable about judging it is that it’s a prize for all visual artists. We see thousands of submissions that are truly international, artists from across borders. And also we have artists that are really early stage, early career artists through to established artists.
Josephine: What exhibitions or artists have inspired you over the last year?
Hugo: One of the exhibitions that I always look forward to seeing every year is the members’ show at the Edinburgh Printmakers. I spend a lot of time up in Scotland, and Edinburgh Printmakers is a wonderful institution that has hundreds of members; artists that are involved in the art of printmaking. The members’ show at the end of November showcases a wide variety of what the members have been producing every year, and it’s just a really warm, lovely show.
Josephine: What will you be looking for in the submissions this year?
Hugo: There are two things I’ll be looking for in submissions. The first is consistency – I think that it’s important to see how practice has evolved – not necessarily an artist doing the same thing over and over again, but really consistency in a holistic way about your practice: is it grounded around the same topics and same subjects?
And the second thing is for artists to be themselves. You might be submitting a submission that’s going to get judged by external people, but don’t produce art for us judges, produce art for yourself. That’s truly important, and that will come across in your practice.
Visitors look at Watering by Daisuke Minowa (left) and Sugar Plum Words by Melanie Berman (right) at the Private View evening.
Josephine: What is your favorite part of the art fairs and why?
Hugo: We are really looking forward to having Jackson’s Art Prize back for the showcase at the Hampstead Fair in 2025. One of the things that I look forward to is reconnecting with our galleries. We have some galleries that have been showing with us for 20 years, and then we have some galleries where it’s their first time participating in our fairs. I just love reconnecting with our galleries and their dealers, and talking to them about the new artists that they’re bringing on and that are participating this year, and just talking shop with them.
The Jackson’s Art Prize stand at Affordable Art Fair, 2024
Josephine: What advice would you give to artists submitting their work to the competition this year?
Hugo: The advice that I would suggest artists think about when submitting artworks are a couple of things. The first is don’t overthink. I’d much rather you get the work over the line and submit it, than get consumed overthinking whether you’re submitting the right thing or not the right thing.
The second is from a holistic perspective, just be yourself and submit works that are truly about you, and your soul will shine through your work if you do that. Don’t submit works that you think we should see, but submit works that are truly about your practice.
And the third point is to be encouraged. Remember that although there are thousands of submissions, you truly have a fighting chance to be selected for one of the prizes. It’s an extremely popular competition but be encouraged – it’s a very transparent competition that you have an opportunity to win.
Visitors view the First Prize winner, Estate by Andrew Torr.
How do you balance personal preference with broader trends in the art world when making your judgement?
Hugo: I find trends tend to be pretty short-term and not timeless. I’d encourage all artists that are considering submitting works not to look at trends, but truly be an individual and submit works for yourself. With personal preferences, I’m very aware that we all have unconscious biases based on what we’ve been exposed to. I don’t tend to fight them… I think that if I lean into those instincts, then I will truly choose the art that I connect with and engage with.
Watch our interview with Hugo Barclay on Instagram
Further Reading
How We Collaborate With Artists
Jackson’s Art Prize 2024 Exhibition at the Affordable Art Fair
Art Fair Checklist for Artists
Expert Advice on Making Your Way as an Artist
Visit Jackson’s Art Prize website
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