Following on from last year’s successful awards programme, Converse and Dazed are teaming up once again with the Whitechapel Gallery for the third Converse/Dazed Emerging Artists Award. The aim of this now well-established award is to discover and celebrate four of the UK’s most promising future art-stars.

Rather than looking to find artwork that already fits into the typical white-wall gallery style, we’re looking for work that challenges perceptions, that’s inspiring and honest, that truly strikes a chord. The panel – six judges selected from across the UK’s prestigious art community – are primarily looking for originality across all artistic mediums. The award is open to any unrepresented artist under 35 who is not in full-time education. Work is accepted in any form – everything from painting, sculpture and photography to video, performance, installation, digital and sound work. There is no theme and no agenda. This is your opportunity to stand up and show the contemporary art world why what you do is both different and important. We want something fresh, something new, something with absolute authenticity.

For the 2011 Award, the prize threw up a number of great talents that were then meticulously whittled down to a shortlist of just five names by the judging panel, which consisted of Whitechapel Gallery curator Kirsty Ogg, Dazed & Confused Visual Arts Editor Francesca Gavin, artist Eva Rothschild, curator Paul Pieroni and gallerists Sadie Coles and Darren Flook.

The selection process resulted in a diverse shortlist of photographer and installation artist Gabriele Beveridge, intervention-based artist Ellie Harrison, sculptor Bruce Ingram, digital duo Samuel Levack & Jennifer Lewandowski and avant-garde artist Richard Parry. Each was then given the opportunity to exhibit at a site-specific pop-up space just off Brick Lane, within a short walk of the Whitechapel Gallery.

The overall prize was awarded to Richard Parry, who took home £6,000 for his involved and detailed work, which incorporates elements from paintings, sculpture, photography, installation and intervention. Originality, process and innovation are what led Parry’s work to stand out, and what the Converse/Dazed Emerging Artists Award is all about.

Once again for 2012, Dazed has selected a highly regarded and relevant panel of judges culled from the UK’s contemporary art scene. Their differing creative backgrounds and contrasting perspectives and views are what makes the Emerging Artists Award one of the most compelling prizes today. Joining the panel this year are art critic Nancy Durrant of The Times; the pivotal and influential British artist, Jeremy Deller; James Early and Yuri Pattison of cutting-edge Peckham-based art-collective LuckyPDF; and Magnus Edensvard, the director of London gallery IBID PROJECTS. Returning for their third year running are Whitechapel Gallery curator Kirsty Ogg and Dazed’s very own visual arts editor, curator/author Francesca Gavin.

For more information and to enter visit http://www.dazeddigital.com

As we continue our adventure across Europe, street artist Steven Burke joins us in France to add his own color and style to a corner of Lyon.

Track: Something Elated by Broke For Free

Steven Burke is a graphic designer and street artist based in Paris. We caught up with him as he added his own colour and style to a corner of Lyon, France, to chat street art, improvisation, and how to make it…

How did you become a painter?
I started painting really young – fourteen years old – with graffiti in Germany, with friends. It was my hobby, instead of doing skateboard. I decided I wanted to make a living as a painter during my late studies, in 2002. I was studying graphic design and realized everything could be combined under painting.

Do you know from the beginning how your murals are going to turn out?
When I paint on a wall, I know a few lines before I start. I know approximately how it is going to look but I always keep some space for improvisation, because this brings fun and often good surprises.

Can you tell us about the ideas behind the piece you’ve worked with Converse on? Does it have a message?
The painting I did for Converse is plenty of positive messages combined with some simple and fun graphics, playing with letters, graphic shapes and big blocks of colors. It was quite a challenge because of the architecture of the building but I am quite happy of the result!

What is the street art scene like in France? Is there anywhere else in the world you’d like to work?
The street art scene is good in France, especially in Paris. If I could go anywhere to paint with local people that would be San Francisco first. They are really good at sign painting and the city seems to be really cozy. And then I would like to paint in any other country… I like to paint in abandoned places or on a wall that people don’t obviously see until I have painted on it.

Do you have any advice for anyone starting out who wants to follow in your footsteps?
My advice would be to stay humble and true to oneself, being aware of what’s happening in the art scene but not following it. And work hard!

What’s next for Steven Burke?
Some illustrations are going to pop up in the next Vice magazine with my friends from the Edrem blog, and I have an upcoming group show in France with artworks on street gloves.

Lyon is home to its own unique and vibrant cultural scene. Its a city that has been turning heads in the last few years, drawing in a young crowd through its increasingly popular electronic dance music scene, as well as attracting an international crowd for its internationally recognized Art Biennial.

The All-Over gallery, chosen for the Wall to Wall project, is run by an artist collective who work predominantly on the streets. Located a small walk away from the centre of the City, the facade provided Steve with ample space to create his piece

Lyon, France

Our next stop: Barcelona. Graffiti artist Otone takes on our biggest wall yet as we continue our celebration of street art across the world.

Track: Disco Biscuits by Eric Bode

Graffiti artist Otonejoined us in Barcelona to take on our biggest wall yet. But this wall was more than just bricks and paint… Otone’s mural travelled across the city, projected from wall to wall in some of our favorite spots in Barcelona. We caught up with him to chat projections, painting and inspiration…

How did you start painting?
I started in Paris’s suburbs more than 20 years ago. I was amazed by what the other graffiti writers were doing on my train line and I started to paint too.

What is the street art scene like in Spain?
It’s big and very rich, so many different styles from one city to the other. You can find a lot of freedom in the street of some big Spanish cities and this is very important for the development of a creative graffiti scene.

What inspires you?
Everyday street life, people’s behaviour in the city, architecture….

Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
Don’t listen to your friends when they say “this is not graffiti”.

What was painting this wall like? Can you tell us more about the design?
It was a lot of work but I had a very good time. I thought about the project as a kind of automatic mural and I gave some simple instructions to my two assistants. I selected 28 shapes and 6 colors and let them have total freedom to come and play with them. Between the three of us we finished the 30 meters long mural in two days.

How do you feel about the fact your mural is going to projected from that wall across lots of different walls?
I think this is very interesting: a wall painting projected on another wall is quite an unusual thing. I like the idea that a specific design I created for the wall in Barcelona will appear on other walls in other places: it’s like trying a tailor-made suit on different people! It’s not like projecting a computer design – this design only exists on the wall in Barcelona and will always refer to it, and I think it creates an interesting link between spaces. It will be exciting to document how the design interacts with its new surroundings… The brick texture of the wall in Barcelona was amazing: I’d love to see a clean white wall wearing it!

Barcelona is a city that never stands still and is constantly innovating. Graffiti artists have flocked here over the years, leaving their own unique marks on the streets, which can be seen dotted in-between the classic Art Nouveau architecture.

Situated in the heart of Barcelona, Razzmatazz regularly plays host to the best up and coming new bands as well as internationally recognized bands. Located on the roof terrace of this famous venue, the wall that was picked acts as a focal point for clubbers who are chilling out and gave Otone the space to create something truly awesome.

Check out graffiti artist EWOK as he works on the front of the Converse Rubber Tracks. Learn about his creative process and experience him painting at the Brooklyn studio.