Out of curiosity I visited the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. I haven’t been in years. It was the last day but was surprisingly calm. At first it all felt quite cosy (I think) as if I was within some kind of womb, where the walls were made of art. However after a couple of rooms (127 exhibits) I was beginning to grow weary. There was a total of 1117 exhibits. I did make it to the end – but I definitely missed a few.
The positioning of the red stickers indicating a work had been sold baffled me. Some were stuck on the glass rather than the wall. I counted 40 odd on one work, which was an edition of 100. If there wasn’t a mount these stickers obstructed the view of the actual work. However lots of stickers means lots of buyers!
One of my favourites was Lost Memory by Tai-Shan Schierenberg. An oil painting of a broken house-like construction, within a house-like space, on a floor of grass. Sad. Atmospheric. Beautiful marks.
The private view for Atelier East Summer Exhibition was last Friday. The organisers were very welcoming (even though I brought along a large backpack and tent!) and it was great to be introduced to people. As well as celebrating the exhibited works the evening seemed to be about the exhibiting artists, the local artistic community and creativity in general. There was live music, a buffet, a raffle and people even discussed art.
Often I leave private views feeling disheartened. Private views are an important marketing tool but they can be more; something less cold. I am guessing most curators/galleries wouldn’t be able to afford to do the above on a regular basis. Would we be willing to occasionally donate a couple of pounds on entry to a private view to cover the costs? Would it help build creative communities? Is this naivety – would this system get abused by us or the curators/galleries?
The exhibition was held in Wisbech & Fenland Museum located in a pretty market town in Cambridgeshire. I was born nearby so it was also good to get back to my roots. Perhaps being outside London or a large city was a contributing factor to the friendly atmosphere. Don’t get me wrong I love London; sometimes its disjointedness is useful, sometimes not.
Going back to the practical side of things I have noticed the alarm that follows when an exhibition has been confirmed. How will the work be transported? What will it be transported in? How much will this cost? How will this impact the environment?
My mode of transport is bicycle – not suitable for transporting paintings. I don’t drive and I’m hoping I’ll never have to – it’s a green warrior thing. As an artist is a driving license an inevitability?
For the Atelier East exhibition Stage light was sent via courier, the courier service I had planned to use let me down – it was an expensive learning curve. On the other hand I did learn about exhibition varnish and managed to construct a wooden box for transportation. This was a big confidence boost I’m now considering making the panels I paint on myself – it would be a lot cheaper and I like the idea that I would be in control of the whole process.
I’m surrounded by bags sitting on the floor of a train to Cornwall for a week of camping. The firefighting is on hold for a bit and I’m hoping to find time to reflect on the past couple of months.
I’ve started this blog, finished two paintings, and exhibited in 3 group exhibitions.
However, more importantly (for me at least) I think I have found a system for art submissions that works:
1. All art opportunity emails are filtered into a new mailbox (here they aren’t overwhelming – when there just isn’t time).
2. I try to check these emails every week day (I don’t have the concentration levels to do this weekly – I’ve tried!)
3. If I find something I might want to apply for, I cut and paste info onto a calendar, on the date of deadline. The subject is always ‘submission deadline’ and in the same colour.
4. Every couple of weeks, I check these calendar entries and ask myself some questions. What was exhibited last year? Would my work fit in? Am I at the right stage of my career? Who is selecting? Where are they coming from – will my work interest them? What else am I applying for/concentrating on? Here I refer to my submission/future spreadsheet which I will come to in step 5.
Now that I have dedicated time a lot of possibilities get deleted.
5. The chosen ones are put onto a spreadsheet in deadline order. Here entry requirements, and delivery/exhibition/collection dates etc are entered. As its updated every 2 weeks nothing gets missed (well that’s the idea).
Rereading this a few days later I wonder if others have had to go to these (perhaps, a little OTT) lengths to organise art submissions?
A hedgehog broke into our tent last night.
Just a quick note these images are of The Stair Show exhibition.
On another note Ghost light has been selected for Atelier Easts Summer Show.
