Equality and Human Rights Commission

‘He’s been counting the days!’ says June Derbyshire, smiling as she sits in the foyer of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank. Next to her in his wheelchair is her grandson, Samuel Johnston, 19, who has been shortlisted in the top 100 for the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Young Brits at Art competition. ‘He’s been sending me texts saying: just one more sleep to go, Nana.’

Samuel has cerebral palsy and communicates with the aid of a computer. He created his self-portrait with assistance from a teacher at Hinwick Hall College in Wellingborough. ‘He has very clear ideas about what he wants to do,’ says Mark Draper, head of art at Hinwick. ‘He’ll choose the colours and direct the brush physically, but he needs someone to enable him to do so.’

The last time Samuel came to London it was for a hospital check-up. He had an operation four years ago, and has recently suffered some further health problems: his face looks thinner than it did in his self-portrait. Nevertheless June and his father, Ian, were determined that he should come and pick up his prize. ‘It means the world to him.’

Samuel is just one of the remarkable young people milling about at the Commission’s Young Brits at Art awards ceremony. The 100 shortlisted artists come from all over the country, from a huge range of backgrounds. Michael Kashora, 16, from Lea Manor school in Luton, has come with his mother Femina and his citizenship teacher, Anna Hamilton. ‘I’m so proud of him,’ says Femina. ‘He did this picture in his spare time at home, he stayed up until five in the morning finishing it.’

Michael’s picture is a portrait of himself against the London skyline, the first sight he saw in Britain after arriving from Zimbabwe when he was nine. ‘For me those buildings symbolise Britain,’ he says.

The shortlisted pictures are displayed in a floor installation, which is divided into several themes, including friends and family, fears and concerns, dreams and ambitions, and consumerism. Entrants were asked to submit a picture reflecting their feelings about living in Britain today. Their responses were hugely varied. In the fears and concerns section, Ben Clarke, 18 and a former young offender, has produced a collage looking at knife and gun crime, while Nathan Roach from Bridgend has responded to the number of teenage suicides in his home town.

In the consumerism section, Alistair Atkinson has painted a strikingly colourful still life featuring his favourite food, and Sophie Rutter has created a homage to her iPod. The friends and family section includes a range of touching tributes to loved ones and school friends: Stephanie Winn’s detailed realist portrait of her grandmother sits alongside Dwayne Bodkin’s more abstract depiction of his teacher and speech therapist framed by stunning blocks of colour.

A panel of judges including the artist Alison Lapper and the chair of the Commission, Trevor Phillips, whittled more than 1,600 entries down to the winners that will be announced today: ten winning entries and three shared first prize winners.
‘The standard was amazing,’ says Lapper. ‘I don’t think we often give young people the credit they deserve for their talents. What came out of the work for me was a great feeling of alienation from wider society, and a sense that young people feel they are not listened to. I grew up in care in the 1970s and 80s and we certainly had similar experiences, but I was shocked that such a broad range of young people now feel the same way. ’

The suspense builds as the shortlisted artists file into the Purcell Room for the announcement of the winners. After performances by the dance group Impact and the ACM gospel choir, Radio 1Xtra’s Sarah-Jane Crawford reads out the ten names: Dwayne Bodkin, Jessica Clark, Emily Daniel, Samuel Johnston, Michael Kashora, Juliette Ndi, Millie Wilkinson and the top three, Georgia Marshall Evangelou, Fungai Mutezo and Stephanie Winn. Profiles of the top three are available here.

Michael Kashora’s mother yelps with joy as his name is called out, and alongside the other nine winners he takes his place on stage to receive a framed copy of his picture and a luxury art set. ‘I’m so happy for him, he loves art so much,’ she says. ‘He really deserves this.’