Remco de Fouw ARHA has been announced as the winner of the 2016 RCSI Art Award. The inaugural prize, awarded to the artist for his sculpture ‘Random Access Memory V', was presented by Mr Declan J. Magee, President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) at a ceremony which took place in the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA).

The RCSI Art Award in association with The Irish Times, was established this year in recognition of the connection between art and healing. The Award ceremony was opened by Mick O'Dea, President, RHA and was followed by an address by Kevin O'Sullivan, Editor of The Irish Times.

The sculpture was selected from more than 570 works that are on display at the 186th RHA Annual Exhibition which opened to the public in March and continues until 11th June. As part of the prize, the winning artist will receive a commission for a new work to be displayed on RCSI's campus.

Professor Cathal Kelly, Chief Executive/ Registrar, RCSI said: “The RCSI Art Award is a celebration of the common heritage of the RCSI and RHA and the long-standing association between art, medicine and wellbeing. We are delighted to present the inaugural prize to Remco de Fouw for this inspirational and ingenuitive sculpture. We look forward to working with the artist to create a new work for the RCSI campus that will inspire our future healthcare leaders and evoke a sense of wellbeing for all who observe it.”

Both RCSI (1784) and the RHA (1823) have Georgian origins and are 32-county bodies with educational roles. RCSI was occupied, while the RHA was destroyed in the Easter Rising of 1916 and the RCSI Art Award was established to coincide with the centenary of these historic events.

All works of art, in any medium, selected for the 186th RHA Annual Exhibition were considered for the RCSI Art Award. The other shortlisted works were: ‘The Wild Swans at Coole' by John Behan RHA; ‘Une Femme et Un Homme' by Liam Belton RHA; ‘Folded Triangle/ Circle' by Joy Gerrard in collaboration with One Off Design; and ‘Soft-Kin' by Richard Gorman RHA.

The RCSI Art Award Committee includes Mr Declan J. Magee, President, RCSI (Chair); Mick O'Dea, President, RHA; Laurence Mackin, Arts Editor, Irish Times; Patrick T. Murphy, Director, RHA; Professor Clive Lee, Professor of Anatomy, RCSI & RHA; Dr Abdul Bulbulia, Alumnus, RCSI; and Louise Loughran, Director of Communications, RCSI.