‘Dad, I got the award.’ 

Lawrence Lek took home the 2015 Award for his work Unreal Estate (Source: DazedDigital.com)

With these heartwarming words – “Dad, I got the award”- I knew that Lawrence has won the Converse x Dazed Emerging Artists Award 2015. The exhibition and award event was held at the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts (RA) on the evening of 16th April.  At the opening exhibition, all the five finalists had to feature their works before a distinguished panel of judges and the winner was named thereafter – “after a heated debate”.

A Throwback to 30Dec 2014: Saying Goodbye At Changi. To Four Busy Months In London

A Throwback To 30 December 2014 At Changi Airport

At Changi Terminal 3, we said another goodbye for the moment. After 3 weeks of family togetherness, Lawrence was returning to London to spend his 3-month residency at the Delfina Foundation between Jan-Mar 2015.  He told us that he would be busy and working very hard to fine tune his entry for the Converse x Dazed Emerging Artists Award 2015.

Lawrence knew that his Mom and I would have gladly flown to London to give him support at the Delfina and the exhibition of the Emerging Artists Award 2015 at the Royal Academy of Arts. We already knew then that we would not be able to travel – the nature of which only our relatives and a handful of friends knew.

(Photo: Courtesy of Andi Schmied) Now, a Photo with the Winner

Thank You Andi For Sharing Your A First Hand Account 

“I just wanted to share with you how amazing was yesterday evening (16 April) at the Royal Academy…..

So for the whole thing there were 1700 applicants, out of which they ended up choosing 5 really really great people… the resulting show was amazing. All the five works were so different, but each of them were of VERY high quality.

There were hundreds of people as the audience (and not more because they only let people in who registered weeks earlier); you could barely move.

Then the moment arrived when they announced the winner. It was incredible and he was so awkward about it (in a nice way!) – he just couldn’t believe it and said how this is the 4th time he applied etc. Then an army of photographers started to chase him. People went up to him to tell him how amazing his work is.

It was really magical! He was also really wishing you could have been in London.

Kisses to all of you.”

Again, thank you Andi for your first-hand account of the award and the opening exhibition. (Andi Schmied is an award-winning photographer, artist and the author of Jing Jin City.)

Photo Source: fashionmonitor.com – Lawrence Lek Wins 2015 Dazed Emerging Artists Award with Site-Specific Video Game

A Career In The Art World ??

Those of us parents, especially us with our Asian mindsets, would barely give the fullest of encouragement to our children when they hint of pursuing a career in the art world.

“It’s the fourth time I applied to this prize, so I am really happy,” said a surprised Lawrence in the art*news when he took the stage to receive the prize. Life as an aspiring artist is an endless sea of precarious arrangements, commercial demands, and cutthroat competitiveness. How to cope?”

And here’s some tips from these good people:

“Perseverance is a young artist’s best friend, as we’ve already told you (see 12 Must-Read Tips for a Successful Career in the Art World). And don’t forget that video games are also hot right now (see Giorgio de Chirico Stars in Trippy Video Game and Smithsonian Nabs Atari’s E.T. Video Game Rescued from Desert). It’s a winning combination.