Public to choose winner of art award - 20/07/2010

The Mall Galleries in London is asking the public to select one of seven shortlisted artists to win £10,000 in its Visitor Choice award.

Art fans will be able to see the shortlisted pieces of contemporary art at an exhibition at the gallery in London.

From September 2nd, 46 works will be on display at the gallery and seven of these pieces are in the running to win the £25,000 Threadneedle Award or the Visitor Choice Prize.

It is possible for an artist to win both awards, which could make it the most valuable competition for a single piece of artwork in the UK.

The winner is announced on September 15th.

Lewis McNaught, director of the Mall Galleries, told the Telegraph: "We are deliberately posing a public vote alongside the judges selecting the [main] prize.

"People come to art very engaged, they have opinions and they have the right to express those opinions."

One of the shortlisted works is Den by Stuart McCaffer, which is a 3D depiction of a teenagers' grotty hideout that the public can enter.

The Mall Galleries is run by the Federation of British Artists, which was established in 1961.

Posted by Ophelia Weston