Scene it all before
Amid the increasing number of art awards, the BOC Emerging Artist Award is one of the newest and most generous, with a grant of £20,000 to the winner.
Last year saw Tom Hackney's paintings of famous American film locations gain first prize and it has now enabled him to stage his first solo show, together with the seven shortlisted artists for this year's prize.
Hackney's collection of new paintings, Scenic Wonder, depicts a series of tranquil scenes painted in meticulous detail and in highly florid colour.
Framed to resemble vintage 3D View-Master slides - though they could also appear to be the windows of a train framing the scenic route - they cast a glaze of nostalgia across the picture-postcard views, which are graphically illustrative, rather than photorealist. And he is particularly good when he paints dappled water.
In the other space are the seven shortlisted artists for this year, including winner Mauro Bonacina, an artist who received early recognition when he showed at the Saatchi Gallery's New Blood exhibition earlier this year.
But here his na've, enamel-onaluminium painting of a volcano is the least attention-grabbing thing on view, and it seems a surprising choice. The sparely daubed mountain sits squatly in the middle of the composition, slightly reminiscent of the strangely placed objects in Craigie Aitchison's paintings, sadly adrift in the centre of the frame.
Until Dec 4, Space Studios, The Triangle, 129-131 Mare Street E8, Wed to Sat 1pm to 6pm, free. Tel: 020 8525 4330. Tube: Bethnal Green
Tom Hackney: Scenic Wonder
