The Winners of the WWK Competition anno 2018
By Bork S. Nerdrum

After halving the roughly hundred applicants, prior to the final round of the World Wide Kitsch Online Competition 2018, the jury had to make the difficult decision of selecting the top three award-winning paintings.

15th November, Felipe Gaona from Chile won the popular contest on facebook with his still life entitled “Fallen.” The final results of the jury selection were announced the following day:

1. The Sea has many Voices by Scott Breton
2. The Muse Sisters by Kexin Di
3. Winter Portrait by Öde S. Nerdrum

How does the jury sum up the WWK Competition 2018?

“There were many quality entries this year,” says Luke Hillestad. “A number of portraits and multi-figured works were very nice. It is is difficult to judge a well-done portrait up against a large narrative work which has succeeded with more challenges.”

The other two jurors, Sebastian Salvo and Li Dong, are also excited about the development.
Salvo remarks that the winners this year have some of those things he loves to see in a painting: good technique combined with ambitious compositions at the service of great storytelling.

Li Dong says that he looks for a combination of traditional standards of realistic painting and realistic emotions of contemporary people. “Based on good technique,” he says, “I will experience the universal human emotions and poetry in the picture.”

What can we expect in 2019 – are there plans to make changes to the competition?

“Maybe the categories will be more specific,” Salvo replies, with categories in mind such as composition, portrait, and landscape, “so they can compete and be compared in the field where they belong.”
Hillestad is of the same opinion:
“Perhaps in the future, the contest will be divided to bring more recognition to both categories.”

You can check out our competition page for more details about the winners and contestants from previous years.
Interested in participating in future competitions? Apply for membership today and become part of a growing community of kitsch-painters.