Art and design students all over the UK were set the challenge of creating a work of art inspired by music for this years Mercury Prize 'Art Competition'. | "It's the first time I've had my art exhibited at a major London gallery, which is really exciting." | | Catherine Howell - Mercury finalist |
The competition received over 1600 entries from over 120 art colleges and universities throughout the nation and the Leicestershire duo were amongst the top 45 finalists. The entries are judged by a top arty panel - Sir Peter Blake (who designed the cover of The Beatles Sgt. Pepper album sleeve), Tim Marlow, Mark Tappin and Simon Gofton. Sir Peter Blake commented: "The art is from students from all over the country and it has been a difficult task choosing the winning finalists. The standard has been high and we've seen some excellent works." Catherine HowellCatherine Howell is a 21 year old art student at Falmouth College of Arts and is originally from Braunstone.  | | Catherine Howell with her work |
Her work, 'Bernie', has been made using acrylic paint onto canvas and is one of the Mercury finalists. Catherine said: "It means a lot to me that my work is one of the winning finalists in the Competition. It's the first time I've had my art exhibited at a major London gallery, which is really exciting." Neil FreestonNeil Freeston is 29 years old and BA Fine Art student at De Montfort University. His mixed media painting 'Negative Vs Positive' is being exhibited alongside other winning works.  | | Neil Freeston's work |
Neil said: "This is a piece inspired by music, dancing, being youthful and having great fun!" The competition was set-up to help students gain exposure and exhibit their work. So we'll have to look out for these two in the future. Who knows they could be the next Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst. The winning art works can be seen at The Gallery at The Hospital in Covent Garden, London and online now on the competition's website. | 
