Hackney WickED art prize won by 'erosion painter'

By Hackney Citizen | Tuesday 15 March 2016 at 17:03

Hackney WickED art prize winner: Mick Dean

The inaugural Hackney WickED art prize has been awarded to painter Mick Dean, whose large-scale oil paintings of the local environment are on display at Unit G gallery in Well Street this month.

The Hackney Wick-based artist beat off competition from 20 other local artists to win a solo exhibition at the newly-opened gallery.

“When you reach your 70th year there aren’t too many surprises left, but winning this prize was certainly one of them,” he said.

Dean describes his work as being about erosion and the second law of Thermo dynamics.

“I paint man made things that are slowly eroding and breaking down,” states Dean on his website.

Dean has been painting scenes of East London for the last 15 years but only recently discovered that both sides of his family are from Stepney.

“I’ve traced them back to 1842,” he said. “I’ve always been drawn to the area especially the riverside from Wapping to Limehouse.”

During Hackney WickED’s open studio weekend last year, Dean’s work was singled out as a contender for the new prize.

Judges praised the artist’s “appealing use of colour and composition, revealing the essence of otherwise typical local streets and waterway landscapes”.

The directors of Hackney WickED said: “We’re overjoyed to be creating real opportunities for artists based in Hackney Wick, introducing artists to galleries and curators, which enable them to raise their profile, put together shows of their work outside the area in well-positioned galleries such at Unit G.

“Hopefully it will lead to increased exposure and ultimately sales of their art. We’re looking forward to creating more opportunities like this going into the future.”

Street Entropy by Mick Dean is at Unit G gallery, 12a Collent Street, E9 6SG until 31 March.

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