
NN Contemporary Art is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 NN Prize, awarded during this year’s Graduation Degree Show. The prize recognises exceptional creative potential among graduating artists and reaffirms NNCA’s commitment to supporting early-career practitioners across the region.
This year’s £500 NN Prize was generously donated by the NNCA Board of Trustees, whose continued support enables the organisation to nurture and promote the next generation of contemporary artists.
The 2025 NN Prize has been awarded to Jessica Langdon, whose poetic and finely observed work stood out to guest judge Mark Wallinger, winner of the Turner Prize. Wallinger commented:
“There’s something beguiling about these delicately observed cracks and topographies, that drew me back for a second and third look. The particularity of their modest scale and the convincing sense that they are life-sized encourages special attention – that, and the scrupulous concentration of a naturalist intent on the generally overlooked… Jessica’s eloquent text further teases out the liminal play of presence and absence, decay and regeneration, and I am delighted that she should win this prize.”
Langdon receives the £500 prize and a tailored professional development package from NN Contemporary Art.
This year’s runner-up, Sam Kubinski, has been awarded a Professional Development Residency, including a £100 materials budget and a studio visit from Mark Wallinger. Wallinger praised the work’s kinetic energy, describing it as “delightfully alive” and full of potential.
Speaking on behalf of the University of Northampton,
Stefan Gant MA, BA (Hons), PGCE, FHEA,
Course Leader, B.A. (Hons) Fine Art, Painting and Drawing, said:
“Our 2025 B.A. (Hons) Fine Art and B.A. (Hons) Fine Art, Painting and Drawing degree shows present some incredibly high standards of work—testimony to the students’ determination to discover their voices and position as contemporary fine art practitioners. Now more than ever, we need art. We greatly value NN Contemporary Art for their continued support and generous contributions that the NN Prize provides. The prize is a springboard for award-winning students to facilitate further development immediately after their degree shows, and we extend our thanks to this year’s selector, Mark Wallinger, for his wonderful feedback to our prize winners.”
The NN Prize is part of NN Contemporary Art’s wider mission to champion bold, experimental, and socially-engaged artistic practice. As NN prepares to open its new permanent home at 24 Guildhall Road in Spring 2025, the organisation continues to deepen its investment in early-career artists at a local and national level.