ARTCOLLECTORNEWS is delighted to present Jonathon Downing, the first winner of our monthly open call. This 26-year-old painter from Detroit, Michigan, despite his young age, already boasts an impressive track record of international exhibitions. He speaks wholeheartedly about his upbringing, inspiration, 'bag of tricks,' as well as his favorite and most challenging pieces to date.

"I have never made an actual baby, but for me, making art feels like the opposite of what I imagine that is like. Conception is painful, but pushing the thing out is the fun bit."

Christos Michaelides was born in 1983 in London. He graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts in 2010. In 2008 he obtained an Erasmus scholarship and attended a term at the Slade School of Fine Arts. He completed the Royal College of Arts MA Painting programme in 2023. Awarded with the commendation at the 3rd Frissiras Museum Award of European Painting (2017, Athens), his most recent solo and group exhibitions were at Alpha CK gallery in Nicosia (A safe place for mistranslations, 2022, solo show),The Project Gallery in Athens (Gender Melancholia, 2021, group show) and at Crux gallery in Athens (Someone Else’s Nostalgia, 2021, group show)