Above; Varnishing Day for Artists. I checked my Imposter Syndrome in at the cloakroom.

166 YEARS OF OPENING THE DOOR TO NEW ART – RWA OPEN EXHIBITION 2018

I’m a fairly recent advocate of manifesting goals for myself; many of my recent achievements have come about this way, but this one caught me by surprise. When I visited the RWA Open Exhibition last year with two friends and said to them ‘This time next year, I will have a painting hanging here’, I did, and yet didn’t believe it. A year seemed too short a time to produce a piece of the required quality, overcome the ever-present self-doubt and fear of rejection, and manifest the dollop of good luck required to be successful, and be selected! And yet, here I am, with a piece in the show, a piece I am proud of, that has passed through two rounds of judging, and furthermore, has sold, to someone not know or related to me! How many pieces of evidence do I need to feel certain in my abilities?! (Many, and constantly, it would seem.)

An Open Exhibition is an opportunity for unknown and emerging artists like me to show alongside established artists and RWA Academicians (those who are rewarded for and recognised as having achieved excellence in their field by the RWA.)
Just as importantly in my view its a wide-open opportunity for the art-curious public to visit an exhibition that has no agenda other than to display work form many disciplines (painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, video) from artists from throughout the UK and further afield.

This is the 166th Open Exhibition at the RWA (one of five Royal Academies.) This feels important to me for several reasons. As an artist, a way of testing myself and my work on a technical and personal development level. And clearly, it’s helpful for the CV to have this prestigious event listed as one of my accomplishments.

Below. My painting ‘You Read My Mind’, with a lovely red dot next to it.

But also I think Open Exhibitions of this kind are so valuable as they are accessible to art lovers, or the art-curious- it’s a cliche but there literally is something for everyone. At these galleries at the beautiful Grade II* listed building in the heart of Bristol that the RWA calls home, for a few weeks in October and November, artworks of a hugely diverse nature are on show.

Within a few steps, a viewer can feel her spirits soar, plummet; notice her curiosity being piqued or even boredom settle in. Round the next corner, she may be startled by colour, calmed by space, stimulated by texture and awed by drama. It’s all here to see, and feel.

Above; the Milner Gallery.

It feels like this exhibition is driven by the grassroots; reflection of an accessible zeitgeist rather than the aspirations and pretensions of the highbrow contemporary art world. The tone is set by the artists and the art, rather than by curators with an esoteric or academic goal in mind. Clearly, the judges have a role to play (doh- of course they do!) and so do those clever people who have hung the show, the unsung heroes in my opinion. More on this in a bit. The judges have selected a range of work (600 pieces from over 3,000 entries, I believe) and created a cohesive yet still sometimes challenging show.

The real win for me is to see how the works had been put together; I can’t imagine the vision, energy and experience that has gone into the hanging and staging. Some spaces were hung according to category; the first walls within the first and largest gallery were given to portraits. Others at first glance seemed quite mixed, but random they are not; take for example below, in the Methuen Gallery ‘Bubblegum’ by Giles Penny RWA is  set against the deep warm grey of the gallery walls, and from this angle the pink is connected to the same colour in Copper Edged Jug by Ai Li Chia. Beautifully presented.

Below; Left- Boy on the Stairs Maureen Nathan Right- Memories of a Childhood Toy, Sara Ulfsparre

Below left Three Standing Mk 1 Dan Hunt,Dark Star Carol Robertson RWAwith Patricia Volk’s sculpture ‘Token‘ in the foreground.  Look at the synergy in the colour!

Below Right ‘The Dissident’ sculpture by Siobhan Coppinger against works by Jessica Cooper, Anne Rothenstein, Stephen Powell.

I have visited the exhibition three times, noticing new pieces and juxtapositions each time. It’s a lot to take in on one visit. I try to feel and in some cases name the reaction of my body to many of the pieces. Discomfort: (Hare on a Chair Patrick by McGrath) awe (Lost in the Pleasure Gardens Lisa Wright RWA, featured on the cover of the programme;) fascination and curiosity (Offerings- earth , by Jenny Leigh;) sensory shock- like a mouthful of sherbet (Plantation House, Julie Moss), contradictory feelings of distaste and admiration (Contagious Diffusion, Gina Baum) a deep seated and not unpleasant unease ( Suffering in Silence David Robertson.) And so much more. Each gallery space has its own personality, its own energy. The meticulous prints and drawings in the relatively limited space of the Stancomb Wills Gallery urge me to stand close and absorb myself in the mark making within the drawings and prints especially. I am bowled over by David Parfitt’s Reeds and Trees and am sorely tempted to purchase the remaining one of the two shown.

Above; the ‘black and white room’, (The Stancomb Wills Gallery). Most of the work in the exhibition is available to buy online here. 

After careful consideration, the piece above is my choice; the artwork I would choose to take home. (And still might, who knows!) . It’s Landscapes Through Which We Move by Laurie Steen RWA, Conte on mylar. I find it lonely, yet optimistic. The tiny flashes of red just make me want to squeal- in a good way. I love the glaucous effect of the mylar and find myself tempted to try it myself, though not with drawing.

The Methuen Gallery offers some sympathetic and attractive groupings, I could easily have carried away this whole wall for my own delectation, including work by Michael Honnor, Ashar, Elizabeth Cowell, Louise Balaam, Susan Foord and Sarah Dudman.

Overall the 166th Open Exhibition showcases a refreshing, eclectic mix of art that might reflect a larger scale version of what many of us aspire to hang at home in an on-trend gallery wall style display in the hallway or up the stairs. It’s a reminder that we should attempt to buy and display art that doesn’t just feel comfortable or safe at first glance, but that space is given to art which challenges and ‘grows’ ( in that our understanding of it does). Sometimes the connection between pieces leads to greater gifts than is offered simply by two or more single pieces; hence the everlasting appeal of a gallery wall style display. It’s a reminder that impact is not predicated by size; that price isn’t an inviolate indicator of quality; and that whatever your background or budget, there is an artwork somewhere with your name on it. The RWA Open Exhibition can help you to find it.