Date: 12 August 2025

The Aesthetica Art Prize returns to York Art Gallery from 19 September 2025 – 25 January 2026. Celebrating its 19th anniversary, the Prize supports the work and creativity of a wide range of incredible contemporary artists, all working across different art forms and attracting national and international attention and prestige. 

25 of the shortlisted works, ranging from paintings and sculpture to photography and digital art forms, will be displayed at York Art Gallery this autumn. Recognised by Jonathan Jones, art critic for The Guardian, as one of the top five exhibitions of the season in 2024, this year’s show continues to make a powerful contribution to contemporary cultural conversations and shape the future of artistic practice. 

The Aesthetica Art Prize captures the diverse range of materials and media used by artists in the 21st century. Many of the pieces featured focus on themes of identity, culture and place in a global context. These include artist Àsìkò’s focus on migration and cultural memory in his series New World Giants, Hussina Raja’s STATION, an exploration of South Asian and Caribbean cultures in the London landscape, as well as The Object, Pen with Tattoo, The Portrait and The Vinyl, an audiovisual installation by Joanne Coates (UK House of Commons Election Artist for 2024) depicting working-class landscapes in the rural Northeast of England. Jarman Award-shortlisted Morgan Quaintance presents Surviving You, Always, a layered, emotional film reflecting on adolescence, class and the human condition in London. Rayvenn D’Clark’s sculptural piece, Untitled, challenges historical depictions of Black anatomy in a large silicone structure using abstract lines to assert a new visual vocabulary. Through myth, archival research, and sculpture, art transforms ancestral memory into new legacies for the present and future. 

Other works, like Vlad Hyrnko’s Foundation, experiment with light, structure and form, pushing the possibilities of still life in a digital context. Brendan Dawes, shortlisted for an Academy Award, presents Nothing Can Ever Be The Same, a 168-hour real-time generative film, commissioned by Venice Biennale Musica. Many of the featured artists find inspiration in the challenges and experiences of modern life. Time Pops Like Chewing Gum, a collaborative piece by Adam Cain, Lois Macdonald, and Princess Arinola Adegbite, explores love, disconnection, and the influence of technology and Artificial Intelligence in the 21st century. Bart Nelissen’s Datascapes, a series of digitally manipulated photographs, considers abstraction, technology, and the human urge to rationalise the natural world through pattern recognition. Similarly, Seascapes Triptych by Ellie Davies and Supernatural by Liz Miller Kovacs look at climate change, ecological fragility, and the relationship between land and the body through the same medium of digital photography. 

York, as a proud member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, celebrates new and ground-breaking installations which demonstrate the creativity and innovation of contemporary artists. The Aesthetica Art Prize 2025 will be displayed alongside another contemporary art installation, entitled Future Tense: Art in the Age of Transformation, which runs at York Art Gallery from 19 September 2025 – 25 January 2026 and features work by Aesthetica alumni Squidsoup and Liz West. Displaying Future Tense alongside the Art Prize highlights its role as a vital platform for talent development and cultural innovation. Far more than simply a competition, the Prize is a hub for creative dialogue, activism and visionary thinking that transcends borders and disciplines. 

Cherie Federico, Director of Aesthetica and Curator of Art Prize, says: “This year’s exhibition amplifies the voices of 25 shortlisted artists that challenge traditional power structures, and represent diverse global perspectives, from diasporic communities to indigenous territories, creating a rich and urgent narrative that addresses the complexities of today’s world. Climate emergency, digital culture, racial injustice, memory and identity are just some of the themes highlighted. Several works transform personal histories and everyday objects into powerful statements about presence, value, and resilience. This dynamic exhibition embraces embodied knowledge, queerness, and neurodivergence, inviting audiences to experience art as a transformative, sensory encounter. It offers visitors a rare opportunity to engage with some of the most important contemporary art of our time – work that challenges, inspires and invites us all to imagine new possibilities for the future.” 

Livia Turnbull, Curator of Contemporary Art at York Art Gallery says: “We are so pleased to welcome the Aesthetica Art Prize back for another year. It’s always a pleasure to celebrate such creative talent and display important and innovative contemporary artworks at York Art Gallery. These displays complement the contemporary works in our own collection and bring artistic diversity to the exhibitions programme.” 

The Aesthetica Art Prize is an annual platform for the world’s best artists. The award’s alumni continue to demonstrate excellence across the globe, from residencies and renowned awards to publications and must-see exhibitions. Prize alumni have achieved further exhibitions at Tate Modern, The Photographers’ Gallery, MoMA PS1, Foam Amsterdam, V&A, Barbican, Guggenheim, Saatchi Gallery, Centre Pompidou and more. They have won, or been nominated for, a range of prestigious awards, including the Prix Elysée, FOAM Talent, the Jarman Award, Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, John Moore’s Painting Prize and Sony World Photography Awards. Collectively, they have achieved publication and further recognition in Frieze, Art Review, Vice, Dezeen, Wallpaper, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The New Yorker, Kinfolk, New York Times Magazine amongst others. 

The Aesthetica Art Prize exhibition and Future Tense: Art in the Age of Transformation, will run between 19 September 2025 – 25 January 2026 at York Art Gallery. Both are included in general admission which can be booked in advance on the Gallery’s website. 

The Aesthetica Art Prize Main Prize and Emerging Prize winners will be announced on 18 September 2025.