ING Discerning Eye 2011 - Call for Entries

The Call for Entries for submissions to the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition 2011 has been published. The deadline for entries is 2/3 September in London - and dates in August for regional pick-up points around the UK

The exhibition is in London on 2 and 3 September 2011.  It enables lesser known artists to be hung alongside the work of artists who have an international status.

The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition is a show of small works independently selected by six prominent figures from different areas of the art world: two artists, two collectors and two critics. Work is selected from open submission and also from artists invited by the individual selectors. Each section is hung separately to emphasise its own distinctive identity. The impression emerges of six small exhibitions within the whole.

How to enter

You are eligible to enter if you are an artist born in or resident in the UK

There are two ways to have your work exhibited

• either through submitting work via the open submission (see below for a summary).
• or by being invited by show work by one of the selectors - an opportunity which has been used in very different ways by different selectors in the past.

Read on to find out what you have to do

What's your chances of getting accepted?

The bottom line is that the open submission provided slightly more than half of the works on display in the exhibition - but accounted for two thirds (67%) of the sales.

Last year I highlighted some of the statistics associated with this exhibition and suggested that the sales record by those artists selected after submitting entries via the open submission provided an an incentive to select more from the open submission in 2010.

Well! I don't know whether it was me crunching the numbers and blogging about it or what - but the good news is that they did select more from the open entry in 2010!

Of the works on display in the exhibition, the percentage of works from OPEN submission artists in the last three years are as follows

• In 2008 279 (49%) of the 572 works on display 
• In 2009 226 (43%) of the 522 works on show
• In 2010 233 (51%)of the 453 works in the show

The total number of works selected for exhibition decreased by 67 (13%), while the proportion given over to open entrants reversed the percentage drop seen in 2009 - which is really good news.

The indication on this year's call for entries indicates that this year upto 600 works could be on show.


The percentage of works which sold by open submission artists in the last three years are as follows

• In 2009, 162 works sold (31% of the works exhibited) of which 92 works (40% of the open submission) related to works by open submission artists.
• In 2010 113 works sold (25% of the works exhibited) of which 76 works (33% of the open submission) were by open submission artists

So, from a commercial perspective, obviously the selectors are doing something right in terms of who they're picking from the open submission.  Let's hope they can also improve their record this year in terms of those artists they invite to display work!

I'm still of the opinion that the open entry should provide a much high percentage of the works selected for the exhibition.  Apart from anything else it looks like it make good business sense.

Information about how to enter

This is the website of the Discerning Eye Competition and Exhibition.

This art competition is administered by Parker Harris.  The ING Discerning Eye Call for Entries Leaflet - provides detailed guidance On their website you can find more details about the exhibition and download the following:

• ING How to Enter portal 
• Call For Entries Leaflet (print this off - it's got all the minutiae that you need to observe)
• ING Discerning Eye Entry Form - must accompany all submissions
• ING Discerning Eye Work Label - required and must be fixed to the back of all work submitted

There is a membership system for artists (costing £40 pa) which includes free submission for up to 6 works. There's no guarantee of selection but the membership fee compares very favourably with the fees charged for submitting six works which will be £54.

Works eligible for entry

The basics are as follows:

• all works must be for sale (40% commission is charged on all sales)
• you can enter up to six works
• all works must be handmade and within the maximum size limit (20" x 20" including frame or plinth/stand)
• all works nust be handmade
  
• drawings, paintings, sculptures and photographs are admissable
• all work must be submitted unpacked (ie no support for unpacking/packing) PLUS
  
• signed entry schedule must accompany all works
• submission fees (£9 per work)
• on the dates in the schedule for different locations
• final deadline for receipt of entries in London: 3rd September 2011.  Works can also be submitted via receiving venues in 15 towns and cities throughout the UK besides London. The earliest receiving date is 28 August.
• all works will be included in the online catalogue - and artists have to supply a suitable digital image if selected.  Work not sold in the exhibition will remain on display in the online exhibition until 1st January 20112
• detailed guidance on requirements for frames
• unselected works to be collected 9-10th September
• unsold works to be collected 25th November

Selectors

This year’s selectors are listed below.  They will chose from publicly submitted works and invites artists to display work.

Artists

• Eileen Cooper RA  Eileen Cooper is a painter and printmaker, she is a Royal Academician and Head of the Printmaking Department at the Royal Academy Schools.
• Lisa Wright

Collectors  

• John Pluthero, Chairman of Cable & Wireless Worldwide and founder of abstract critical  (the link is to a review of him and his business success.  Seems that he's brutally honest.  Should be interesting!)
• John Deston, Gallery Manager, The Mall Galleries, London (I'm pleased to see this one and will be fascinated to see what John picks!)

Critics 

• Ossian Ward, Visual Arts Editor, Time Out
• Brian Sewell, Art Critic (Should be interesting and I'll be fascinated to see what he picks too!)

Prizes

There are a number of purchase prizes from the ING Purchase Prize which is worth £5,000 to the Humphreys Purchase Prize of £750. Further details are available in the leaflet.

There are also 8 prizes of £250 each for outstanding entries from (sic) "the national regions".   I must drop somebody a line and point pit that Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland are NOT regions, thet're countries! I worked for a number of years in different contexts with colleagues across the UK and Ireland and I remember it being drummed into me that one always has to avoid the word 'region' being used for any area which lies outside England!

Exhibition

Admission to the exhibition is free.  Dates for the 2011 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in The Mall, London SW1 are as follows:

• opens to the public on 10th November 2011 at 10 am  Admission FREE
• closes 20th November

The following are links to previous posts on this blog about the ING Discerning Eye:

• 2010 ING Discerning Eye - Call for Entries and The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition 2010
• 2009: Exhibition Review - ING Discerning Eye 2009 and ING Discerning Eye 2009 - call for entries
• 2008: ING Discerning Eye 2008 - Prizewinners; ING Discerning Eye 2008 - a review; who's been selected for the ING discerning eye 2008?   and ING discerning eye 2008 - deadline 6th september
• 2007: ING Discerning Eye at the Mall Galleries

Links:

• Art Competitions in the UK - Resources for Artists
• The Discerning Eye
• Parker Harris - ING Discerning Eye
• Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1 12 - 22 November 2008 (10am to 5pm daily) Admission free