17 THE  ART OBSERVER July 2010 of very good work. The judging took place on 16th June when the winners were selected. As well as giving all these young artists a leg up the ladder, Roger Ward is also helping to raise money for the North West Air Ambulance, who rely totally on charitable donations. Fifty per- cent of the money raised from this whole event will go to the NW Air Ambulance with the remaining fifty percent going to the artists. The work of the twenty finalists will be auctioned at a Gala Dinner at Mr Thomas’s Chophouse on 1st July. During the week prior to the auction all the other entries were included in the exhibition hanging at Mr Thomas’s and every piece was for sale to anyone who cared to snap up some enterprising and imaginative pieces of work by these hitherto unknown, but possibly the future’s well-known, artists. Purchasers of the work have the added satisfaction of knowing they have not only helped the artists but have also contributedto a very worthwhile charity. For further information on this event and the prizewinners please go to the website www.chophouseart.co.uk By Ian Simpson ASPIRING YOUNG  artists can look more enthusiastically towards the future, thanks to Roger Ward. Roger’s landmark Victorian pub and eating house, Mr Thomas’s Chop House, in the heart of Manchester’s city centre is to become a springboard for young artists wanting to make a career in art and design. 2010 is the first of an annual summer event showcasing the best of art- work coming out of the art schools and colleges throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire. This year the focus was on work of an illustrative nature and the goal is to introduce young artists to galleries, illustration agents, advertising and design agencies and to the public who may want to enjoy these works of art in their own home. The work shown in this one week exhibition (24 June - 1st July) was initially selected by the tutors of the art schools and col- leges as the best pieces from their students. In the first year of this project one hundred and sixty pieces were submitted to Mr Thomas’s Chop House for entry into a competition to find twenty finalists which would include the winner of the Gold Certificate award, whose prize is £500; five Silver Certificate awards, who each win £100; and the remaining fourteen finalists who win Highly Commendable awards. The judg- ing panel was made up of an independent jury of professional artists and a gallery owner who had the difficult decision of picking the finalists from a host ARTISTS GIVEN THE CHOP? NOT AT MR THOMAS’S By Simon Morris THE VERY  controversial sculpture by Anish Kapoor, commissioned for the 2012 Olympic Park, has already got tongues wagging, mostly in dismay, so we can only imagine the shrieking sounds of loud objection once the Orbit is completed and the East end of London is forced to live for evermore with this monstrosity that will henceforth blight the London skyline. Anish Kapoor has produced some wonderful and amazing sculptures that enhance various places in the world. His jaw- dropping sculpture, “Cloud Gate” is the focal point of Chicago’s Millennium Park. In this case big is certainly beauti- ful. It is a highly polished seam- less structure of gigantic propor- tions, resembling an enormous egg that reflects its surroundings. Its simplicity of shape disguises the engineering skills required to produce this awesome piece. Why then, could our capital city not have something just as beau- tiful as was made for Chicago? Why do we end up with a tan- gled mass of steel that looks like a crane writhing in agony? And why, oh why, does this ugliest of objects have to be larger than any other artwork in the coun- try? Heaven forbid that the rest of the world imagines that this reflects the taste of the general British public. For remember, this is a piece of public art. Public art, my foot! This is noth- ing to do with the public. Up until this point, I quite liked Boris Johnson. I now think he is completely mad and lacking in any integrity for having sanc- tioned, nay instigated this folly. I feel even more disappointed that Nicholas Serota was one of the nine people responsible for cursing us with this vision of ugliness. That such an overwhelming piece of ‘public’ art was chosen by only nine people strikes me as being less than democratic. The Orbit,  as it will be known - and should be sent, is costing a total of over £19million. Are we supposed to be grateful to Lakshmi Mittal, the steel magnate who happens to be Britain’s THE ARCELORMITTAL ORBIT - THUMBS DOWN! richest man, for putting up £10million and leaving the rest to be paid by the public? Then why was the public not allowed to pass an opinion on this piece of ‘public art’ before its con- struction was a fait accompli? I am all for pushing the bound- aries of art but I am dead against imposing on people art that they do not like. Public art should enhance the lives of the public and give them pleasure. In plac- ing Kapoor’s monstrously large O r b i t   in such a public place I feel it smacks of dictatorship with the message “you will like this - and if you don’t, tough; you are still going to pay for it”. Furthermore, there is no getting away from the fact that the whole thing seems a little inces- tuous and cleverly contrived to benefit Mr Mittal’s steel compa- ny, ArcelorMittal - well one can be forgiven for thinking this because one wonders who will be providing the steel with which to build this eyesore - oh, and by the way, it will be a RED eyesore. Thanks, Boris, you really are having a laugh at our expense! Photo by Arup Above: The Judging Panel Below: Wendy Levy with artist Darren Baker