Joanna Lawrance

Born, 1965 in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire

Following two years of postgraduate study at Goldsmiths College, Yinka Shonibare was included in the prestigious Barclays Young Artist Award 1992, held at the Serpentine Gallery in London. This was the eighth year of the annual exhibition of London art school postgraduates shortlisted for this award. Along with Shonibare, the other shortlisted artists were: Richard Ducker, Janice Howard, Andrew Kearney, Gabriel Klasmer, Joanna Lawrance, Lisa Richardson, Stefan Shankland, and Mari Tachikawa. Though five of these artists were apparently “not British in terms of birthplace or ethnicity,” Elsbeth Court (who reviewed the exhibition for African arts magazine) also claimed that Shonibare was “the first non-European selected to be a finalist.” The significance of Shonibare’s inclusion in the exhibition cannot easily be overstated. More than a decade and a half after the Barclays Young Artist Award 1992, Shonibare was asked, in an interview for the Guardian to describe what his big breakthrough was. He replied: “Winning a Barclays Young Artist award in 1992. It got me noticed.”

»  Barclays Young Artist Award 1992

Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 1992

»  Young at art - Barclays Young Artists award 1992 review, Time Out

Review relating to an exhibition, 1992