Images from ING Discerning Eye Exhibition 2022 plus Prizes

I viewed the six different displays of small artworks selected by six different selectors for the ING Discerning Eye 2022 Exhibition at the Mall Galleries yesterday. 

My general impression was that much of the content was better than in previous years - while some still had me wondering about "what is taste?" in art and even "what is art?"!

The Different Displays

I've done two things after getting home

• uploaded albums of my photos of the various displays to my Making A Mark Facebook Page. 
• The artwork which caught my eye and/or I liked the best gets singled out - and the artwork and artist named.

The link in the name is to my Facebook albums. 

The second link to the number of artworks is to the website gallery version on the ING Discerning Eye website. You can then compare the digital image version with what it looks like on the wall.

• East Gallery: Kate Enters ArtCan Director - Selected Artwork - 93 artworks - this was the display that most impressed me, in terms of amount of artwork I liked.
• North Gallery: Aindrea Emelife, Curator - 103 artworks - included some interesting works and a blast from my past
• West Gallery 
• Ansel Krut, Artist - 68 artworks - the smallest exhibition
• Gurinder Chadha, Film director - 108 artworks - very much dominated by images of people
• Alison Bevan, RWA Director - 102 artworks I also liked a lot in this exhibit
• David Ferry, Artist and RE President - 89 artworks - included as one might expect quite a few original prints

One of the things you may find interesting as you look at the artwork is to see which artworks have sold - bearing in mind that the exhibition had been open for a week - since 11 November - when I saw it on 18 November. Keen collectors tend to buy online or early on in an exhibition.

I saw quite a few sales. I also saw quite a really silly prices. In future, I think some artists need to remember that we are now in a recession and won't be coming out of it for quite a long time.

Never ever forget 'Affordable Art' sells well! Small works are a great opportunity to create affordable art.

Prizes and Awards

Interestingly on the IMG Discerning Eye website the awards are not matched up with images of the awards. However if you click the link that takes you to the dedicated page for that artwork. 

Specific (Main) Awards

Winner of the ING Purchase Prize, £5,000
Lost and Found by Andrew McNeile Jones
oil on canvas

• ING Purchase Prize, £5,000: Andrew McNeile Jones, Lost and Found, oil on canvas
• The Discerning Eye Founder’s Prize, in honour of Michael Reynolds, £2,500: Ian Middleton, Pot Luck, patinated bronze

Winner of The Discerning Eye Founder’s Prize, £2,500
in honour of Michael Reynolds: 
Ian Middleton, Pot Luck, patinated bronze

• The Discerning Eye Chair’s Purchase Prize, £1,000: Laurence Causse-Parsley, Leake Street from the Lower Marsh, mixed media on canvas
• The Mervyn Metcalf Purchase Prize, £500: Alison Spear, Winner!, pastel on card
• Parker Harris Prize, Mentoring sessions worth £300: Margie Andrew-Reichelt, Me Too, lino print, collage, paint, pencil and glitter on fabriano
• The Discerning Eye Sculpture Prize, £250: Reece Ingram, Shag, Kilkenny limestone
• The Discerning Eye Print Prize, £250: Heather Burwell, Captive, relief print on fabric, stitch, wax, acrylic
• The Discerning Eye Cityscape Prize, £250: Ben Ark, Best Hopes and Worst Fears, Mixed media on wooden panel

Ben Ark, Best Hopes and Worst Fears, Mixed media on wooden panel

Elisha Enfield, 2206, oil on wood panel

• The Discerning Eye Landscape Prize, £250: Elisha Enfield, 2206, oil on wood panel
• The Discerning Eye Portrait Prize, £250: Madeline Fenton, Thinking, egg tempera and oil

Regional Prizes, £250 each

You can see most of these i- on the wall - in the albums I've uploaded to Facebook

• Northern Ireland: Mark Graham, Love Heart, acrylic on board
• Scotland: Jayne Stokes, Four Climbers, acrylic, collage and gramophone needle tin
• Wales: Jane Duff, Bluebells and Wild Garlic, oil on board
• East Anglia: Yurim Gough, OK Google, ceramic
• Midlands: Erin Conel, The Yellow Wallpaper – Virginia Slims, oil on panel
• North: Laura Quinn Harris, Jon, oil on board
• South East: Hayam Elsayed, Follow the Light, oil on canvas
• South West: Laurie Steen, A Space of Light, Drawing 11-22, Conte, coloured pencil on archival mylar