Fine Art Open Exhibitions - art buying joy
Having submitted fine art to several open art exhibitions, Lynne Roebuck explains why she thinks they are great places to go see (and buy) art.
Original print by Lynne Roebuck on display in Ferens Open Exhibtion 2010
What is an 'Open Exhibition'?
Open exhibtions are hosted by galleries both public and private. They invite artists to choose and send-in examples of their artwork for display. They're called 'open' because both amateur and professional artists can send work in, whether they are established or not, whether they are well known or unknown, and regardless of the medium or subject they explore. Open exhibtions offer an opportunity for artists to have their art displayed in spaces otherwise unavailable.
The galleries invite people with experience in the art field to act as judges, choosing artwork to accept and exhibit.
How art work is chosen
All open exhibitions attract more pictures than there is wall space for, often considerably more. The judges have a limited amount of time, at most a day, in which to come up with a display. Simple maths can tell us how long judges have to assess each picture. One notable open exhibition regularly receives 1,500+ artworks. The judges have one day, say 7 hours or more realistically a maximum of 6 hours, to decide what to show. Dividing 6 hours by 1,500 (artworks) gives us 14 seconds per image maximum. 14 seconds in which to make an impression and win a place. There is no time to debate artistic intention, nuance, execution, concept, meaning or significance. Unless the work instantly speaks to the judges, it's more likely to be rejected than accepted with so many to choose from - quite an acid test for both art and artist.
'Go see art' at an open exhibition
Artwork in open exhibitions generally has something that made it stand out - it had to compete and win against a lot of competition. A distinctive aspect of open art exhibtions is the variety of work on show, from sculpture through drawing to painting and printmaking as well as all manner of subjects and styles of art. For the budding art buyer, these are excellent places to begin forming your own ideas about what you think works and doesn't. If you visit your local open art exhibition on a regular basis, year after year, you will see the same artists succeeding over several years though the judges are different each time. In other words, you can be sure that again and again, different art professionals are expressing approval of an (often local) artists art. Open art shows are in these respects unlike most other exhibitions and are great viewing for any budding or developing art-buff or collector.