Saatchi Gallery and Absolut Vodka's Studio Fund at New Sensations

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The Saatchi Gallery and Absolut are delighted to announce the return of the Studio Fund as part of this year's New Sensations Exhibition. The first spirit brand to forge genuinely close ties with the art community, Absolut has been active in the art world since 1986, when it invited Andy Warhol to create the first in a series of iconic advertisements inspired by the Absolut bottle. Since then, Absolut has collaborated with more than 1000 artists on over 800 commissioned projects. Following its tradition of introducing cutting edge designs, Absolut's latest limited edition; Absolut Originality is an elegant limited collection which features four million individually designed bottles, each made into a one-of-a-kind work of art with a drop of Absolut Cobalt Blue infused into the molten glass during production. Absolut asked the finalists of New Sensations 2013 to express their originality through the transformation of the iconic Absolut bottle, taking inspiration from the Absolut Cobalt Blue colour that has been at the core of Absolut since 1979. Twenty graduates from BA and MA courses at UK and the Republic of Ireland colleges and universities were chosen by the judges: artists Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin; Nick Hackworth, founder of Paradise Row, London; Ossian Ward, formerly visual arts editor of Time Out and now at the Lisson Gallery, London; Tabitha Jackson, Commissioning Editor, Arts, Channel 4; and Rebecca Wilson, Chief Curator, Saatchi Online and Director, Saatchi Gallery. Of these twenty artists, three were shortlisted for the Absolut Studio Fund. They are Freya Douglas-Morris (Royal College of Art), Katja Larsson (Glasgow School of Art) and Philippa Kuligowski (Glasgow School of Art) Their work will be unveiled at the exhibition, alongside the 2012 winner of the Absolut commission, Antonio Marguet. The overall winner of the Absolut Studio Fund will receive financial support to help fund a studio space for 12 months.