Jaguar, in collaboration with the Royal College of Art (RCA), has unveiled the shortlist for its inaugural Jaguar Art Awards—an initiative celebrating bold originality in artistic practice. Twenty groundbreaking artists have been selected from across fine and applied art disciplines, chosen for their fearless response to the brief “Copy Nothing,” a creative ethos championed by Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons.
The shortlisted works, which span sculpture, painting, photography, ceramics, and glass, were displayed from 19 to 22 June during the RCA2025 Summer Showcase. In September, five winners will be announced during a prestigious awards ceremony. Each will receive a grant to support their next creative project, with one recipient earning the highest honour—the Gerry McGovern Award, named after Jaguar’s Chief Creative Officer and jury member.
This award programme underscores Jaguar’s longstanding relationship with design innovation, following its Type 00 unveiling at Miami Art Week—a new brand vision aimed at reimagining the future while honouring the brand’s creative heritage. The selected artworks mirror Jaguar’s values of innovation, distinctiveness, and disruption. From glass-blown tributes to coral reef loss, to sculptural interpretations of memory and speed, each submission defies imitation and embraces self-expression.
Jurors included Professor Gerry McGovern OBE, RCA alumni now part of Jaguar’s creative team, and experts from diverse artistic fields. Together, they evaluated works that redefined medium boundaries and celebrated individuality. The Jaguar Art Awards not only reflect the brand’s design-forward legacy but create a platform for rising voices shaping the future of art.
Among the shortlisted artists, standout works include those by Zoë Wilkinson, who merges Caribbean and British identity through monochromatic paintings on sugarcane fabric, and Demi Danka, whose salt-etched canvases evolve unpredictably over time, embodying movement and transformation. Others, like Yvann Zahui, channel Afrofuturism and surrealism to transform vehicles into metaphorical self-portraits, reflecting the emotional power of form and motion. Each piece serves not only as an artwork but also as a bold declaration of the artist’s point of view—untethered by tradition and driven by experimentation.
Another powerful submission is by glass artist Emma Goring, whose reimagining of Venetian cane techniques results in vivid, light-catching pieces designed to draw attention to environmental fragility. Similarly, Anthony Scala’s sculptural glass works marry architecture with physics, creating pieces that are both technically masterful and deeply emotional. These works capture the strikethrough ethos—the visual and philosophical disruption at the heart of Jaguar’s rebranding—as a metaphor for creative rebellion and breakthrough thinking.
With its commitment to elevating emerging voices, the Jaguar Art Awards highlight the intrinsic link between art and automotive design: precision, emotion, and innovation. By aligning with the Royal College of Art and offering financial support to winners, Jaguar ensures that this celebration of originality is more than symbolic—it’s a genuine investment in the future of contemporary art. As the finalists await the September ceremony, the spotlight remains on their courage to defy conventions and craft a world of their own making.
