MAKING A MARK: Call for Entries - New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2019

The Call for Entries has gone out from the New English Art Club for its Annual Exhibition which will be held between the 14th and 22nd June 2019.

The New English Art Club seeks work which demonstrates excellence in both concept and draughtsmanship Mall Galleries

The deadline for digital submissions is Friday 22 February 2019, 12 noon.

Below you can find

my commentary on the nature of this open exhibition
a review of the metrics associated with the annual exhibition in June 2017 - including the number of works selected from the open entry, the number of non-member artists who got to exhibit and the average number of artworks hung by a non-members.
a summary of how to enter the next annual exhibition.

One of the advantages of now having the NEAC Exhibition in June is it coincides with the first week of the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts - and lots of people now travel to London to see both exhibitions! In fact you can easily walk between the two!

The New English Art Club

This is how NEAC explains its purpose and remit as follows

The New English Art Club is an elected society of contemporary painters whose ethos resides in art informed by the visual world and personal interpretation.

Our Annual Exhibition is a showcase not only for its members but also for aspiring artists: with a history going back more than a hundred years, it is an opportunity for work to be seen alongside some of the best artists painting today, held at Mall Galleries in London.

While some in the past have tended to see it as a staging post to entry to the Royal Academy, for my part, I tend to think of it more as follows

"NEAC" is after all the set of initials that other FBA society members want to add on to their existing signature member status - probably because it was originally a spin-off from the RA. Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2018 #1

For information on how to become a member see the NEAC website - Artist Membership Application Process

An annual exhibition under a NEW President

The NEAC website "Calls for Entries" to submit work to the annual exhibition.
This is an image of the Selection Panel in action
in the basement of Carlton House Terrace, in the room where artworks are delivered

While selection is by a panel of members, I'd expect a new President to set the tone for what he'd like to see happen. However, bear in mind when submitting work that there is a limit to how much time each work submitted can be viewed - and that this is the distance that most works are generally viewed from! (see the pic above)

There was a point when most of the Presidents of the FBA Societies were older than me - and now I'm older and many are younger! However, in recent times, there's been a bit of a sense at the moment of the "new guard" taking up the responsibilities of President from the "old guard".
This will be the first exhibition under the new President of NEAC - Peter Brown NEAC b.1967 aka "Pete the Street" [Facebook] and a new Vice President Sarah Spencer [Facebook]

Peter describes himself as "an all-weather painter of street scenes and city landscapes" - and a very good one he is too!

This is an interview with him on the NEAC website. I also attended his very interesting talk 'There's Nothing Between My Ears' at the Mall Galleries last Friday)

Peter Brown - a talk at the Mall Galleries
One of his small landscapes can be seen just above the top of his easel

The 2019 NEAC Exhibition + Metrics

I'd like to see this Open Exhibition become a bit more open - by which I mean:

rather FEWER artworks by members - who have already officially "made it" just by being members of this prestigious society
rather MORE artworks by non-members who aspire to do well in art and to have careers as artists

I can but hope!

These were the exhibiting artists in 2017 - 89 members and 84 non-members
These were the exhibiting artists in 2018 - 93 members and 84 non-members

This is an annual exhibition of typically c.400 works. In 2018 The exhibition had 396 paintings.

It's also the exhibition that a lot of members of other art societies would like to exhibit in and become members of (especially if they've got no chance of becoming an RA!)

In previous years, this exhibition has typically had by far the lowest percentage of non-member works of all the FBA Societies

2018: c.74% of works by members (75% in 2017); 63% are also members of other FBA Societies (65% in 2017);
2018: c.26% are by non-members (24% in 2017) : 11% of which were also members of other FBA Societies (12% in 2017)

For example, compare it to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters which had a ratio of members' work to non-members of 51:49 in 2018 - in contrast to NEAC's 2018 exhibition which had a ratio of 74:26.

In addition most exhibiting non-members had only one artwork selected, with the average number of works exhibited by non-member being 1.2 artworks.

Whether it's worth submitting more than artwork is debatable. You are almost certain to waste any submission fees in excess of one - if you know which is the artwork they're most likely to select!

This is the catalogue for the 2018 Exhibition on Issuu - a small version of which you can see below. Click the link to see a bigger version

Another point I raised in my review last year was that it simply didn't make me go "Wow" when I walked in and didn't look like a NEAC Exhibition. It was

a good-looking and more colourful exhibition and lots of red dots. Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2018 #1

but NOT like NEAC Exhibitions of old.

For those attending many NEAC Exhibitions over the years I think you'll know what I mean. It's certainly one I've always really looked forward to but has tended to underwhelm in recent years.

Maybe it's what members have chosen to exhibit? (I say that on the basis the NEAC exhibition is mostly work by members
Maybe it's due to the change in members over the year?
Maybe it's who has staffed the Selection Panel?
Maybe it's what selection panels have chosen to exhibit by non-members?

Who knows?

It's worth noting that in the past the website used to identify the following as criteria for artwork - which is still listed on the Mall Galleries website but I can't find it any longer on the NEAC website and maybe that's what I'm noticing? Maybe it's about less focus on:

work based principally upon direct observation of nature / human figure.

work which demonstrates excellence in both concept and draughtsmanship.

I just know I'd like to have the NEAC Exhibition 'of old' back again! The one that always used to make me go "Wow!" You can read my reviews of past exhibitions - and see photos of what they looked like in my reviews of the annual exhibition going back to 2007 at the end of this post.

NEAC 2018 - Threadneedle Space - not very NEAC!

Call for Entries

This is an OPEN EXHIBITION. You can find Information about the exhibition on the Mall Galleries Website

Prizes & Awards

The exhibition's prizes and awards are open to all participating artists.
I'm always surprised that the Prizes and Awards listed on the website are usually fewer than for some of the other exhibitions. It's struck me a while back that NEAC could do with tracking down some new sponsors! You can see who won awards last year on the NEAC website and see the works on my review of the exhibition

Monetary Prizes

The Doreen McIntosh Prize: £5,000
NEW The Bowyer Drawing Prize: £1,000

Art Materials

The Winsor & Newton Award: Art materials to the value of £500, voted for by visitors to the exhibition.
The Peter Ashley Framing Prize (Presented by The Artistic Framing Company): A bespoke handmade picture frame will be created for the winning artwork, to the value of £500
Jackson's Art Supplies Prize: £300 worth of art materials, awarded to an outstanding work by a non-member

Publication Awards

The Dry Red Press Award: The winning work will be published as a greeting card in the Dry Red Press 'Prize Winners' range, with royalties from the sale of the cards going to the artist

Who can Submit?

Any artist - over the age of 18 - living anywhere in the world can submit artwork to this exhibition.

Both members of NEAC and other artists are invited to submit artwork for consideration.

What can you submit?

These are the Entry Requirements for all artworks.

For full terms and conditions, click here.

Acceptable media: Paintings, drawings, pastels, original framed prints (Photography, sculpture are NOT eligible)
Age: Work must have been completed in the last two years
Previous exhibitions: Work must NOT have been previously exhibited in London (i.e. it can have been exhibited elsewhere in the country). I assume "London" means within the boundaries of any the areas recognised as falling into one of the London Boroughs (Inner or Outer).
Dry: Paintings should be completely dry at the time of delivery (or they won't be hung)
Size: Works should not be larger than 2.4m along the longest dimension.
Number: You can submit a maximum of six works - of which a maximum of three will be selected and hung. (This is one less than the number for other art societies)
For Sale: All work must be for sale (unless you are the Prince of Wales!)
Price: The minimum price is £300 (framed prints: £180, unframed prints: £120).
The entry fee is £18 per work payable at the time of submitting (£12 per work for artists aged 35 or under) and includes free admission to all artists SUBMITTING work to the exhibition (normally £4).
All entries are via digital submission online. (You cannot bring your artwork to London to enter)

Generic Information about submitting to the Annual Exhibition 2018

The exhibition and entry process is organised by the Mall Galleries on behalf of NEAC.
Below is the standard information relevant to any exhibition at the Mall Galleries by a society which is a member of the Federation of British Artists. The Generic Terms and Conditions are universal. The ones which are specific to this exhibition are in "What can you submit?" above

The Call for Entries Terms and Conditions are applicable to ALL FBA exhibitions at the Mall Galleries. These cover:

The NEAC Exhibition 2019 Digital Submission and Detailed Entry requirements - specific to this exhibition is located at http://mallgalleries.oess.uk.

How to Submit

The process works as follows

Read the general terms and conditions
Read the Specific Entry Requirements for this exhibition - including Entry pricing (including concessions for artists under 35)
Register for digital submission - (See Artist Registration if you have never entered before)
Login Page to the Open Exhibition Entry website - for those who have previously registered
Submit your entry online prior to the deadline: 12 noon on Friday 22 February 2019. You need to complete the form, pay the fee and upload images of work. [Note: Images must be in JPEG format and under 5MB]
Pre-selection is based on online entries and associated digital images
Notification of Pre-selection: Friday 1st March, 12 noon
Deliver pre-selected entries ONLY to Mall Galleries, 17 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5BD for final selection on Saturday 6th April (10am to 5pm)
Final selection: in front of a Panel of Members of NEAC (see photo near top)
Notification of Acceptance: Tuesday 9th April, 12 noon - check this page to see if your entry number is listed Collect work not accepted for exhibition from Mall Galleries, 17 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5BD on Thursday 11th April, 10am to 5pm
The selectors' decisions are final and no feedback is offered.
Collect unsold work: Thursday 27th June, 10am to 5pm

You can find details of carriers in the UK on my website under UK Art Movers & Couriers & Fine Art Transport Services

Special Note for Artists living/working outside the UK

Artists from outside the UK may need to register for VAT, please check with HM Revenue and Customs: https://www.gov.uk

Artists sending work from abroad should use a picture carrier.

Artists who are not resident in the UK but are resident in the EU, if your work is sold at the exhibition you have a responsibility to register and account for UK VAT with H.M. Revenue & Customs. Artists without a UK residence (known as 'NETPs' - non-established taxable persons) can find further details on 'NETP' status and how to register for VAT at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk, (HM Revenue & Customs Reference: Notice 700/1, Mar 2014) under the heading 'Should I be registered for VAT?'. Please note: the registration process can take up to 4 weeks. Please address any questions you may have to the VAT Helpline on tel. no. 0845 010 9000 or, if your call is from outside the UK, +44 2920501 261

Previous posts about the Annual NEAC Exhibition

2018: Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2018 #1 + read the e-catalogue released via Issuu online
2017: Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2017
2016: Prizewinners at the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2016
2015: Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2015
2014: Review: New England Art Club Annual Exhibition 2014
2013: Review: NEAC Annual Exhibition 2013
2012: Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2012
2010: REVIEW: New English Art Club Annual exhibition 2010
2008: New English Art Club - Annual Open Exhibition 2008
2007: New English Art Club - plus commentary and discussion

MAKING A MARK

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Monday, December 10, 2018

Call for Entries - New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2019