HIX Award 2015 given to Allyson McIntyre at the Cock’ n’ Bull Gallery, London.

David Franchi – Saturday, 5th September 2015.

Allyson McIntyre, Moon Cries for Ferdinand, 2015 © Cock’n’Bull Gallery, London

Allyson McIntyre is the winner of the HIX Award 2015, at the Cock’n’Bull Gallery, London.

Last 4^th September, the ceremony was held in London at the Cock’n’Bull Gallery, and the awards were given to artists by Tracey Emin, Mark Hix and Rebecca Lidert.

The award ceremony, it has been a fully packed evening, because of the many artists and public present. There were also some the 22 panel judges who made the decision and choose the winner, included Tracey Emin, Rob and Nick Carter, and Miranda Donovan, as well as established critics and professionals such as Liz Murdoch, Dylan Jones and Eliza Bonham Carter.

This year there were 500 entries that ranged nationwide with some even coming internationally. The finalists were 18 only, on a collective exhibition at the Cock’n’Bull Gallery.

McIntyre presented ‘Moon Cries for Ferdinand’, a provoking and attention-grabbing piece. It has an intense symbolism, a dying bull chained with strong bright colours and glitters. Here McIntyre explores the gender roles, where the bull symbolizes the position of women in a male dominated society.

The HIX Award itself was designed by Damien Hirst. It reminds the Hix name and the monumental sculpture on the restaurant above CNB Gallery – made by Hirst too.

The HIX Award 2015 was sponsored by Cass Art, so McIntyre won a £500 Cass Art voucher, and the two runner’s up got nice goodie bags. Other sponsors were Hobo Beer & Co. and Nyetimber Wines.

McIntyre also received £500 of Hix dining vouchers, a trip to Hix townhouse in Lyme Regis and a feature in the autumn issue of HIX magazine, plus, of course, a solo exhibition at the CNB gallery next year.

There was also a ‘People’s Winner’ Award on the CNB Facebook page, which, again, was won by Allyson McIntyre.

The Canadian artist Allyson McIntyre – Ally Mac -is born on 1991. She is currently based in London, UK. She obtained her BFA from the University of Alberta (2013) in painting and sculpture. In the same year, she started to attend to visual art courses at the Goldsmiths University of London. In 2014, she collaborated with Gabriel Molina on a commissioned 440ft2 mural for her hometown.

At its third edition, the HIX Award is a good idea to exhibit the best selection of excellent undergraduate and graduate artists’ work, who can demonstrate their love for art and passion, showing their original and creative work.

The HIX Award finalists 2015 were: Allyson McIntyre, Bakhtiyar Berkin, Demi Overton, Edén Barrena, Emma Marks, Jacob Yarwood, Jennifer N. R. Smith, Kelly Sweeney, Lewis-John Henderson, Luke Marsh, Marcin T.Jozefiak, Matilda Skelton Mace, Michael Colegate, Natasha Malik, Patricia Pisanelli, Phoebe Mulrooney, Salomé Partouche, Charlotte Emily Sutton and Susan Eyre.

The HIX Award 2015 exhibition was at the Cock’n’Bull Gallery, Shoreditch, London, from 7th August until 4th September.