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A painting created using oil pastel, nail polish and gem stickers on canvas by 11 year-old Drogheda girl Junxi Yi has been shortlisted in the Junior section of the AIB Portrait Prize at the National Gallery of Ireland. It is titled “Me in Chinese Traditional Dress”.

From hundreds of entries, 46 artists in 20 counties across the island of Ireland have been shortlisted for the prestigious award and exhibition which runs in the National Gallery of Ireland from 9 November 2024 – 9 March 2025.

Another Louth artist, Martin Maguire from Dunleer, has been shortlisted for the (senior) AIB Portrait Prize along with 25 other artists from across the country with his piece in oil on canvas called GameBoy. Five- year-old Hugo Cashell from Mornington has also been shortlisted for the AIB Young Portrait Prize.

The AIB Portrait Prize shortlist includes painting, drawing, sculpture, video and photography demonstrating the breadth of contemporary Irish art. The winner of the AIB Portrait Prize will receive a cash prize of €15,000 and will be commissioned to create a work for the national portrait collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000.

Two additional awards of €1,500 will be given to highly commended works. Judges for the AIB Portrait Prize are: Hughie O’Donoghue, artist, painter and writer. Emer McGarry, Director of The Model, Sligo and Simon O’Connor, Director of the Museum of Literature Ireland.

The AIB Young Portrait Prize, now in its sixth year, is a showcase for the artistic talent of young people from across the island of Ireland. Five winners (one from each respective age category and an overall winner) will be selected from a shortlist of hundreds of entries from young people aged three to eighteen.

Category winners will receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize while the overall winner will be awarded a personalised wooden box of high-quality art materials and a cash prize of €500. All twenty shortlisted entrants will have their artwork professionally framed/prepared.

This year’s AIB Young Portrait Prize judges are: Ashwin Chacko, author-illustrator and motivational speaker, Emmalene Blake, a visual street artist, renowned for their large-scale portraits and Sheena Barrett, Head of Research and Learning at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

Exhibitions of the shortlisted works in both competitions run at the National Gallery of Ireland from 9 November 2024 – 9 March 2025. The winners of the Prizes will be announced at a ceremony held in the Gallery on 27 November 2024.