Aesthetica Art Prize is returning to York Art Gallery in time for summer 2026 – and celebrates its twentieth year.
The Prize showcases incredible talent from contemporary artists around the globe across a range of mediums including digital media arts.
Short-listed artists will go on display upstairs at York Art Gallery, from 17 July 2026 to 15 November 2026. The mixed media approach will create a visually striking display that will sit alongside the other range of exhibitions currently on show at York Art Gallery.
This year’s themes include the environment and our relationship to it both past and present, global identities and culture as well as health and wellbeing in the modern age.
Some works mesh a combination of these themes together such as Felipe Castelblanco’s ‘Tunda: A Quantic Plant and the Devil’s Breath,’ which explores the development of human relationships with the natural world and its longstanding entanglement with colonialism.
‘Sacred Bond’ by Claudia Behrensen follows a similar theme but instead looks to the future, by portraying the link between people and the natural world through powerful imagery of a dystopian world if nature continues to be neglected in favour of artificial entertainment.
Other works from Filip Haglund, Hope Strickland, Jarrett Murphy and Alexis Pichot also navigate themes of the natural world. Pichot and Murphy use photography and prints to capture forests and mountains, whilst Haglund and Strickland portray their explorations of the ocean and rivers through film.
Kazuaki Koseki captures Himebotaru fireflies, a species unique to Japan, in an illuminated scene highlighting the beauty of the fireflies with the fragility of nature.
DIVA’s ‘Memoria 2020: When Memories Are No Longer Enough’, and Magid Magid’s ‘Faith Amongst the Ruins’ look at identity, race and cultural memory in the community, whilst Edgar Martins’ prints make a poignant comment on mental health in the modern world.
Jeonghan Yun’s ‘Photograph Drawing III’ encourages discussion about how photography and drawing are defined, directing focus to either the different lenses or the abstract of the overall piece.
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.
Cherie Federico, director of Aesthetica and curator of Art Prize, said: “Now marking its 20th anniversary, the Aesthetica Art Prize stands as an international platform for contemporary art, amplifying voices that shape and challenge the cultural conditions of the present-day.
“Over two decades it has evolved into a space where artistic practice is not only exhibited but activated, supporting careers, fostering global dialogue, and championing work that responds directly to the urgencies of now.
“The selected artists engage directly with the defining pressures of contemporary life, from accelerating technologies that reshape perception and truth, to the legacies of colonial histories and their ongoing impact on identity and belonging, and ecological systems under strain.”
The Aesthetica Art Prize opens at York Art Gallery on 17 July 2026 and will run until 15 November 2026, it is included in general admission.
