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Benjamin Phillips wins the Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year
Benjamin Phillips has won the Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year for 2024 at the 2024 V&A Illustration Awards.
The awards – now celebrating their 52nd year – celebrate excellence across five categories: Adult Fiction, Adult Non-Fiction, Advertising and Commercial, Emerging Illustrator and Illustration for Children. They were announced at the V&A museum in South Kensington, London, on Tuesday evening (17th September).
Philips won the Illustration for Children category for Alte Zachen / Old Things by Ziggy Hanaor (Cicada Books) and was also named the overall awards’ winner for Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year for 2024.
Coralie Bickford-Smith was named runner-up in the Illustration for Children category for The Squirrel and the Lost Treasure (Particular Books) with 10 other winners and runners-up announced on the night.
Organisers said: “Winning the Illustration for Children category, Phillips’ deeply personal tale delves into ideas around Jewish identity, generational divides, and gentrification through the familial dynamic between a grandmother and her grandson.”
This 70-page graphic novel, imbued with empathetic and evocative hand-drawn scenes is described by judges as “unique, moving and powerful, with a subtle beauty”.
Entries this year came in record numbers, with more than 2,000 works submitted, each tackling a variety of themes and exploring a multitude of ideas through the medium of illustration.
The judging panel was chaired by the V&A director Tristram Hunt with judges including illustrator Chris Riddell, printmaker and previous winner James Albon along with author and artist Yasmeen Ismail, founder and director of Gran Salón Mexico, Maru Aguzzi.
Selected artwork from each of the winners and runners-up will feature in a display at the V&A from 18th September 2024 to 21st September 2025.
Aguzzi said of the judging process: “Something that was surprising was the fact that I didn’t really encounter trendy themes or traces, something that for me is very common in contests where you usually see a lot of illustration that doesn’t necessarily represent the illustrator.
“Here I saw mostly unique styles, and that is very empowering. The work of Benjamin Phillips is so unique and powerful, so moving, that, while we all had our differences during the judging process, here there was no doubt.”
Each category winner will receive £3,000, with runners-up receiving £750. The overall winner is named Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year and receives an additional £5,000, with their artwork entering the V&A’s outstanding collections of illustration.
For more information, visit the V&A website.
