The Scottish Portrait Awards return to Glasgow bringing together over 60 portraits echoing the dominant themes of our times. The exhibition which launched in Edinburgh before travelling to Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, is now showing at the Charles Rennie Macintosh Gallery at the Glasgow Art Club until 23 April 2022.

The Scottish Portrait Awards has quickly established itself as a barometer of contemporary Scottish art practice, giving visibility to a mix of well-established artists as well as newcomers across a diversity of styles.

With 15 of the 61 selected works by artists under 25 years, this is a powerfully young exhibition echoing the dominant themes of our times with family, the environment, black lives, women’s empowerment and mental health issues all reflected.

The exhibition includes the winner of the Richard Coward Scottish Portrait Award in Photography, Scotland’s largest photography prize. Peter Iain Campbell’s portrait ‘Photographer Laurence Winram meditating on a history of tidal erosion’, was taken at Portsoy Habour, north-east Scotland, its unique pose reflecting on environmental urgency.

Also on show is Saul Robertson’s portrait ‘Journeys’, winner of the Scottish Portrait Award in Fine Art. The multi-generational portrait is the artist’s most ambitious painting to date, the expressions and gestures of the family subjects revealing both individual and collective stories.

The Scottish Portrait Awards offer Scotland’s biggest awards for portrait art – including a £5,000 first prize for fine art in any medium, a special award of £3,000 for black and white photographic portraits, and £500 awards for the top works by entrants under 25 years.

Entries are now open for the Scottish Portrait Awards 2022 with a closing date of 31 May 2022. Managed entirely by volunteers on behalf of the Scottish Arts Trust, the awards are open to anyone over 16 years, born, living or studying in Scotland.

This year, applicants applicants whose immediate family receives any form of income support may apply for free entry to the Scottish Portrait Award in fine art or photography through the Scottish Arts Trust Bursary Fund. The deadline for the bursary applicants is 30 April 2022. All details on how to apply can be found at www.scottishportraitawards.com.

The Scottish Portrait Awards 2021 exhibition is at the Glasgow Art Club until 23 April 2022. Entries to take part in the Scottish Portrait Awards 2022 are open until 31 May 2022.