The Super Plus Under-40 Artist of the Year Competiton which opened at the Mutual Gallery on August 15, 2006 is keenly contested. All six visual artists selected from a group of 10 are vying for the top prize of $100,000.

They are: Keisha Castello (paintings and installation collages), Kereina Changfatt (fine art prints and mixed media), Phillip Thomas (painting), Khalil Deane (painting), Zawdie Reece (painting) and Tricia Gordon-Johnston (paper construction). Each artist has exhibited between five and nine works, with each mounting his/her own mini-exhibition.

Members of the public are asked to participate in the voting process. One lucky voter will win the People's Prize, a cash award of $50,000. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, September 5, 2006, but the exhibition continues until Friday, September 8, 2006.

Short profiles

Today, we present short profiles of Tricia Gordon-Johnston, Zawdie Reece and Phillip Thomas.

Tricia Gordon-Johnston has recently completed her studies at The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts with a Diploma in Painting, 2006. She has held two solo exhibitions in 2004 in Jamaica at Wonderland Gallery and in 2006 at Chelsea Galleria, Florida, USA, and was selected in 2005 to participate in Curator's Eye II Exhibition at the National Gallery of Jamaica.

Zawdie Reece graduated from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts with a diploma and postgraduate certificate in fine arts and painting. She has participated in several group exhibitions, including three Annual National Exhibition, 1997-99, and was selected to participate in the Curator's Eye II Exhibition at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2005. Her awards include two Merits in the National Fine Arts Competition, 1997.

She was the recipient of the Multicare Foundation Postgraduate Scholarship in 1997 and valedictorian in the Department of

Painting at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, 1997.

Phillip Thomas graduated from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in 2001 with a Certificate in Painting and in 2003 with a Diploma in Painting with Honours. He participated in the Biennial at the National Gallery 2004, and has participated in a two-man exhibition at Bolivar Gallery, 2006. He received an Albert Huie Award for Painting in 2003 and the Purchase Award from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, 2003.