122 artists from across the Yorkshire region have been selected to show their work in the Leeds Art Gallery annual open exhibition ‘Artists Show 2009’.
The annual open show, which opens on 26 July this year, invites amateur and professional artists to submit their work and win the chance to get their work exhibited, reviewed and sold in Leeds Art Gallery.
Over 450 artists flooded into the gallery earlier this month with their oils, watercolours, drawings, prints, sculptures and high hopes. Selectors then had the mammoth task of selecting the final exhibition.
This years submissions include a fascinatingly diverse mix of sculpture, photography, video art, painting and drawings, celebrating the wealth of creative talent that springs from people’s homes and studios across Yorkshire.
Cllr John Procter, Executive Board Member for Leisure, said:
“The open show at Leeds Art Gallery continues to be a fabulously creative celebration of some of the best artists from across the region. It’s a really important exhibition with such a large and diverse number of exhibits on offer, as well as helping new artists establish themselves and sell their work.”
This year’s selection panel are Moira Innes, Curator, Leeds Met Gallery, Jenny Hack, Painting Conservator, Leeds Museums and Galleries, and Sheila McGregor, Chief Executive, Axis – an online resource for contemporary art – ensuring that the selection process for the exhibition remains as objective as possible.
The show opens with a private viewing on Sunday 26th July at 12 noon, where all 450 entrants will be invited to come along and celebrate the pieces that did make it into the exhibition proper. The doors are then being opened to the public at 1pm.
Most of the work on exhibition is for sale, and with prices ranging from £50 to £3000, there are clear opportunities for regular art collectors - and those looking to start - to grab an original art work. There’s even a piece of art that is simply labelled ‘open to offers’!
Entry to Leeds Art Gallery is free, and the Artists Show 2009 runs from 26 July to 30 August. For more information visit www.leeds.gov.uk/artgallery.
Notes to editors:
1. For more information on the exhibition call Leeds Art Gallery on 0113 2478256 or email city.art.gallery@leeds.gov.uk.
2. The annual Open Show at Leeds Art Gallery is firmly established as an important event in the local visual arts calendar. In recent years, the diversity of the works on show has helped to attract a large and varied audience and a significant number of the exhibits have been sold. The Open Show Leaflet with this year's submission dates will be available from April 2009.
For media inquiries please contact:
Dominic Burton, Marketing Officer, Libraries Arts and Heritage
Leeds City Council
0113 2478391
Email: dominic.burton@leeds.gov.uk
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