Digitising your art for posterity

When I was still making art, I used to be absolutely fastidious about recording its creation digitally - as it progressed and then again at the end and then saving it in different file formats. 

As I got more experienced, I started looking more into the "how to get a good image" and "how to photograph your art"

I was rather overwhelmed by the fact that, back in the 1990s, the first time I engaged a photographer to photograph my art, I ended up in her studio with black cloth everywhere, the lights off and her hand holding one of those clicker things which takes the picture. They were jolly good images! Pity we weren't doing digital then....

Many artists are now very interested in making sure they get good quality images of their artwork either through digital scanning or via digital photography - primarily so they can reproduce their art in different ways for ancillary sales.

Subsequently, I got very interested in collecting information about how to photograph your own art and everything I found at the time ended up on this page How to Photograph Art - for Artists on my Art Business Info for Artists website.   

Which is how I ended up with Case Studies like this......

Many thanks toYanny Petters for the action shot of her husband 
photographing her art outside on a bright but overcast day with no shadows

I'm now a member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. The Society is currently involved in digitising its archive of botanical illustrations of the plants growing in the Chelsea Physic Garden.

This is the latest post on the CPGFS Instagram Account of the activities of the British Museum imaging department who have been engaged to digitise the @cpgflorilegiumsociety Archive Collection.  

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NEW Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries at the Imperial War Museum

Last Friday, I visited the Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries at the Imperial War Museum (IWM) for the first time. They are the galleries in the UK’s to explore how artists, photographers and filmmakers bear witness to and tell the story of war and conflict.

The Imperial War Museum is not typically a place I think of when wanting to see art - but recent developments suggest it should definitely be part of the education of any self-respecting artist of fan of art history who wants to understand better how war has been recorded from a visual perspective.

Not least because the Galleries include some iconic artwork as well as important films and photography.

The reason I was at the IWM last Friday was because I'd been invited by the Museum's Digital Producer/Director to some filming she was doing with Gareth Reid in relation to various of the outstanding paintings in the IWM's art collection.

Gareth Reid being filmed while sketching and making notes
about "Gassed" by John Singer Sargent

Some of you may remember Gareth Reid as the winner of the 2017 series of Portrait Artist of the Year and more recently Portrait Artist of the Decade (Review: Portrait Artist of the Decade as featured in Portrait Artist of the Decade Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery - last few days). For me he will always Gareth Reid who I first met at the National Portrait Gallery back in 2008 when he was responsible for what I still think of as one of the best BP Travel Award Exhibitions in the history of the award (see BP Travel Award: Gareth Reid and the Finnish winter bathers).

He and I were both very impressed with the Galleries and their content. Read on to find out more.

The Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries

The Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries are located at the Imperial War Museum in London. They opened last November on Remembrance Sunday. 

The Galleries are free to enter, making more of IWM’s world-class collection available and accessible to all.

Entrance to the Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries

This is the first time in IWM’s history that a permanent gallery space has been created to display the three collections together - visual art, film and photography.

Submissions invited for Baltic’s Second Open Exhibition

The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead has published its Call for Entries for the Baltic’s second open-call exhibition.

Eligible artists are invited to submit artwork from Wednesday 11 October for a major open-call exhibition due to open at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in March 2024.

West Side of Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in 2022
Nick-D, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Key Features of this art competition

Who can enter?

People based in North East England who are artists, makers, self-taught creatives and hobbyists 

“The response to our very first open-call in 2020 was overwhelming and showed how much talent we have here in the region. And now we’re opening up another opportunity for people to submit their artwork – in any medium from painting and ceramics to sound and video - to be a part of what I hope will be a truly joyful and special exhibition.”

You must be based in the North East of England. Those residing in the following postcodes are eligible: NE, DL, DH, SR, TS and TD.

What can you enter?

• All media is eligible for submission, examples include painting, drawing, sculpture, film, tapestry, photography.
• Artworks of a maximum specified size limit of 100 x 100 cm for wall-based works and 100 x 100 cm at the base for floor-based 3D works.
• there are weight limits
• The total weight of wall-based artworks must be no more than 10 kg when packed.
• The total weight of 3D artworks must be no more than 80 kg when packed.
• Any suspended artworks must weigh no more than 50 kg.
• Baltic cannot accept works that contain food substances, noxious or toxic substances, have flammability below 50°C, contain human or animal tissue, or incorporate dangerous electrical appliances. All electrical appliances will be PAT tested by Baltic upon arrival.
• Baltic stands to denounce racism and discrimination in all its forms and will not accept any works that communicate any form of racism or discrimination.

Who will select the artwork for the exhibition?

Artworks will be selected by a panel including 

• Jasmina Cibic, artist;
• Paul Smith, musician, and lead singer of Maxïmo Park;
• Niomi Fairweather, Baltic Curator (Local);
• Rose Mcmurray, Baltic Curatorial Assistant and
• a representative of the Open Submission exhibition partner Fenwick, Newcastle Upon Tyne, who are supporting the exhibition and visual arts in the North East.

Exhibition

The exhibition, in Baltic’s Ground Floor gallery between March and September 2024, will present 

• up to 100 works drawn from the OPEN submissions 
• alongside work by several established artists including: 
• Holly Hendry (pictured here), London-based sculptor and installation artist who explores what lives beneath the surface, from hidden underground spaces to the interior workings of the body
• Phyllis Christopher, Newcastle-based photographer known for documenting LGBTQ+ sexuality and protest in 1980s/1990s San Francisco
• British institution, household name and prolific painter Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves) whose submission is a newly completed unseen work.

This year, the exhibition is being presented in association with Fenwick, whose flagship department store has been a mainstay of the North East for more than 140 years.

Timeline

  This call out is free to enter and open to anyone based in the North East of England.

• Wednesday 11 October 2023: Submission process opens. 
• Monday 27 November 2023: Last day for postal entries to be received.
• Monday 27 November 2023, 10am: Deadline to submit your work online.
• Friday 12 January 2024, 6pm: All successful applicants contacted.
• Monday 22 January 2024: Press Announcement. 
• February (To be Announced): Participants to deliver the works selected for the exhibition at Baltic. The timing and process for this will be confirmed in detail to each participant closer to the time.
• 15 March 2024: Exhibition Preview
• 16 March – 01 September 2024: Exhibition open to the public.

Application

• Baltic Open Submission in association with Fenwick
• This is another page which provides the Guidelines and Submission Page
• Applications can be submitted online now via Submittable. Please follow this link.

Want some Tips?

For all those 

• looking for tips on your application or 
• having any questions about the process

The Baltic has organised both 

• an online and in-person drop-in session 
• on Thursday 2 November 
• with Curators and panellists Niomi Fairweather and Rose McMurray. 

Simply show up at Baltic on the day or request a Zoom link via open@baltic.art

Affordable Art Fair Hampstead 2023: A Synopsis

The main point I'd make about the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead which is on Hampstead Heath (about five minutes walk from the Train station is as follows.....

The stars of the show are emphatically the printmakers.  

Walk past an awful lot of 'manufactured art' and head for the Printmaker Stands where you will find artwork which is both good quality and affordable - as in affordable to more ordinary mortals.

Art Affordable Art Fair (Hampstead): My Findings

Here's the criteria for who can get involved in an Affordable Art Fair - all of which are very sensible.

• All artists must be living.
• All works must be original, or have an edition of less than the following per media:
• Sculpture – 25;
• Prints – 200;
• Photography – 150.
• All works must be priced under our price ceiling (see Exhibitor FAQs for more info).
• Reproductions, even if editioned, are not allowed.

Here's what I found on my visit on Thursday.

What's Affordable?

The art fair lacks a definition for "Affordable". It needs one. In my opinion, it would get more visitors if it signalled more clearly what the price range of the artwork on show is

See more undr "What's Confusing?" below.

What's Good

The stands organised by groups of Printmakers - including:

• A7 East London Printmakers (busy all day) Facebook East London Printmakers is a not-for-profit, artist run studio based in Mile End. (My other half nearly bought one - we got to the unframed versus framed debate). This is an organisation which also encourages people to use their studios....
• D11 Printmakers in Residence (also very busy) - The studio in Bermondsey produces all the work by Mychael Barratt and Trevor Price, fellows and respectively the Past President and Vice President of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. Work by other contemporary artists is produced and published by invitation.
• H8 North London Printmakers - a group of printmakers who believe in bringing high quality affordable prints to everyone. They're very much focused on the price range I would regarded as most people's definition of "affordable".
• H1 Rebecca Hossack is showing Professor Phil Shaw is a ground-breaking British digital-printmaker - who produces some unique (and funny) digital art prints. Awarded his Doctorate in ink technology, Shaw uses a specialized eight-colour printing process on fine-grade Hahnemuhle paper. He was the former Professor of Printmaking at the University of Middlesex, where he taught from 1980.
• D7 Arc Fine Arts stand is showing some lovely etchings by Tim Southall 

There's a Route Guide for Photography and Print

Mychael Barrett PPRE with "Made in London"
his new screenprint and woodcut about the creative artwork and products first made in London. Underneath is his Gormley's cat (the dog version sold extremely well at the RA Summer Exhibition)

 

'You can't judge a book' by Phil Shaw

My world is a place where humour is a serious matter, and its purpose is not simply to raise a laugh but to call attention to the puzzling absurdities and the dangerous myths, that permeate all our lives." Phil Shaw

Etchings by Tim Southall

• There are some very good stand displays by long established art galleries. Ones I'd highlight are with a good stable of artists are:
• Linda Blackstone Gallery - you can also see them at a variety of Affordable Art Fairs in the UK and overseas
• Marine House at Beer - run for over 25 years by art collectors who became art gallerists! I very much liked the quirky landscape paintings by Jo March.

National Portrait Gallery 2023-24 Exhibition Programme

The National Portrait Gallery has been closed since June 2020 (see National Portrait Gallery not reopening - until 2023) but the NPG has finally announced it is reopening this summer -  on 22 June 2023.

It's also announced its planned programme of exhibitions in the 12 months after it opens.

I'm listing these below - but splitting them between Art and Photography - and I'm ordering the exhibitions by the date the exhibition opens rather than the prominence of the sitter/artist or likely popularity of the exhibition

Painted Portraits

David Hockney: Drawing From Life

2 November 2023 – 21 January 2024 (postponed from when it opened just prior to the Pandemic. I've already seen it!)

Explore the artist’s work over the last six decades through his new works and intimate portraits of five sitters: his mother, Celia Birtwell, Gregory Evans, Maurice Payne and the artist himself.

Celia, Carennac, August 1971 by David Hockney © David Hockney,

Colored pencil on paper,

Photo Credit: Richard Schmidt

Collection The David Hockney Foundation

The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure

22 February – 19 May 2024

Curated by Ekow Eshun, this is a major survey of African diasporic artists working in the UK and America, featuring works by Michael Armitage, Lubaina Himid, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola and Amy Sherald (amongst others).

Photographic Portraits

Photographic portrait exhibitions Summer 2023

Yevonde: Life and Colour

22 June – 15 October 2023

The first exhibition to open as part of the Gallery’s 2023 programme will explore the life and career of twentieth century photographer, Yevonde, who pioneered the use of colour photography in the 1930s. Supported by the CHANEL Culture Fund, this exciting show will survey the portraits and still-life works that the artist produced throughout her sixty year career, positioning Yevonde as a trailblazer in the history of British portrait photography.

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm

28 June – 1 October 2023

This unprecedented exhibition will share, for the first time, an extraordinary archive of rediscovered and never-before-seen photographs taken by Paul McCartney. Shot during the period in which John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were propelled from being the most popular band in Britain to an international cultural phenomenon, the exhibition provides a uniquely personal perspective on what it was like to be a ‘Beatle’ at the start of ‘Beatlemania’. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize

9 November 2023 – 25 February 2024

Showcasing work from the most exciting and cutting-edge contemporary photographers, the competition is open to everyone aged 18 and over - from talented amateurs to seasoned professionals.

Tyre Nichols - in his own words and images

I read that Tyre Nichols loved photography and went looking for his website after the news of his death and the absolutely appalling videos of how he was murdered by five Memphis policemen.

What I was not prepared for was the irony of both his words and his images - in the context of a death which was revealed to the world via a lens.

The website of Tyre Nichols Photography

This is what he says on his "about" page. My bold highlights the words which really hit home.

Hey guys,

My name is Tyre D. Nichols. I am an aspiring photographer. Well I mostly do this stuff for fun but i enjoy it very much. Photography helps me look at the world in a more creative way. It expresses me in ways i cannot write down for people. I take different types of photography, anywhere from action sports to rural photos, to bodies of water and my favorite.. landscape photography. My vision is to bring my viewers deep into what i am seeing through my eye and out through my lens. People have a story to tell why not capture it instead of doing the "norm" and writing it down or speaking it. I hope to one day let people see what i see and to hopefully admire my work based on the quality and ideals of my work. So on that note enjoy my page and let me know what you think.

Your friend,

Tyre D. Nichols

It's appropriate to remember Tyre as more than just a victim. That wasn't his life.

It's too late to tell Tyre himself what I thought of his photographs - but I can do here.

Check out his Masterpieces page - he really had a good eye for a great picture.

I liked the care with which he found places to take great photos and the angles he got. He took time out to capture sunsets and iconic venues associated with Memphis blues at the right time. His images tell a story of his home town and his life. He makes Memphis look great.

Memphis Blues and Sunsets

I loved this strapline for his home page

A good photographer must love life more than photography itself

Let's remember Tyre Nicholas as a man who loved life, sunsets, photography and his home town of Memphis.

Let's hope that Memphis gives him justice.

Call for Entries: Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

The annual Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize is a truly international competition, that celebrates the very best in contemporary portrait photography. It attracts entries from photographers - both amateur and professional - from all over the world.

The National Portrait Gallery in London issued the Call for Entries for the 2022 competition earlier this month.

Submissions are invited by the deadline of 5pm on 31 May 2022 via a brand new digital platform, specially developed for this year’s Prize.

The winner of the competition receives a prize of £15,000. In addition, the judges, at their discretion, will award cash prizes to one or more of the shortlisted photographers.

Call for Entries

Who can enter?

• Photographers must have been 18 years of age or over on 1 January 2022.

What can you enter?

• Each photographer can submit up to six photographs.
• Every photograph has to be a portrait
• Each image must be saved as a JPG/JPEG and be 3 MB or smaller.

What does it cost to enter?

• Each entry costs £20.00 per portrait (i.e. NOT per photographer)
• If you make the second round: All costs incurred by postal/courier services (including customs charges and any import duties) must be paid for in advance by the photographer
• Plus the cost of insurance for the exhibit (see Rule 1.17)
• All debit/credit card details must be completed and the expiry date must be at least two months after the date of entry.

Note: If your second round entry incurs unpaid costs its delivery will be rejected by the NPG,

How to enter?

register for a secure artist account on the Gallery’s new competition platform (www.competitions.npg.org.uk)
• photographers must upload their image(s) via the competition portal.
• photographers must agree to comply with the FULL RULES of the competition e.g.

The photographer or their representatives warrant that they are fully authorised and entitled to enter into the agreements contained in these rules, in respect of all rights in the work including ownership, copyright, moral rights, the rights of the people, names, trademarks, designs or works of art depicted in the photographs, and that no further permissions or conditions are required to deliver these agreements.

• All submissions and payment of entry fees must be completed by 17.00 on Tuesday 31 May 2022 (UK time).
• Model release forms - required if selected for the exhibition
• The model release form will state that the photographer has full permission to enter and reproduce an image of the person/s featured in the photograph. 
• If a selected photograph contains an image of a minor (person under the age of 18) then photographers will be required to submit a minor release form signed by the parent or legal guardian of the minor.
• TIFF file required for the exhibition catalogue and marketing
• delivery of photograph(s) for the second round of judging must be received at the collection point between 20 - 24 June 2022 - whether delivered in person or by post/courier.
• Pay attention to the Rules!

The Gallery reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify and remove any entry that does not comply with the rules at any stage of the competition.

How are entries judged

The prize winners and exhibition selection is judged on an equal and anonymous basis. 

• first round: judging panel views digital images
• second round: judging from photographs produced by photographer - if selected for the second round.

Where is the Exhibition?

For the second year, the exhibition will take place at the arts hub Cromwell Place, London from 27 October – 18 December 2022, while the National Portrait Gallery building in St Martin’s Place is closed until 2023 for major redevelopment works.

In 2021 the exhibition was held at Cromwell Place and featured a total of 54 portraits from 25 artists.

REFERENCE

You can view past exhibits and winners on this blog - under the label Taylor Wessing Prize

7 reasons to find out what the Great British Photography Challenge can teach artists

I've been watching The Great British Photography Challenge since it started on BBC4 three weeks ago - and warmed to it straight away. In this post I'm going to set out what I think are the reasons why a lot of artists might get value from watching it too.

Good photographers take good pictures

Great photographers take great pictures again and again and again and again

Rankin

 

Programme website

Participants - three women and three men

 Reasons to watch the Great Photography Challenge 

I'm not interested in seding anyone home. We want to see what they can all bring in the coming weeks...
This process is also about how you take feedback and getting multiple viewpoints on your work. Rankin

1. There's a great professional practitioner in charge - Rankin has worked professionally for over 30 years and is uncompromising about his own standards. What that means is.....
2. This is NOT any sort of "knockout" talent show. It's a masterclass
• He makes a point at the beginning that he's NOT about sending anybody home or making it some sort of knockout competition. I get the sneaky feeling he made it a condition of doing the show. (Other professionals should do likewise!)
  
• He's very much about nurturing talent with constructive feedback and NOT about creating "a talent show".
• They really need to drop the "Challenge" bit of the title and insert "Masterclass" instead - for what will (hopefully) arrive as a repeat next year!
3. Rankin acts as a Mentor as well as a Judge - and when he makes judgements he does it a part of a team of experts
• The feedback is both positive and negative - and it's about what makes great images
• It's always about trying to make them better creatives, technicians and photographers.
• There's also much MORE constructive content given direct to the participants than there is in any other similar programme for artists
4. The series of four programmes pack in 12 assignments - 3 in each programme covering a wide range of subjects in the widely contrasting briefs - many of which are not unlike the subjects tackled by artists
5. The programmes bring in expert professional coaches for different topics and subjects -
• a huge variety of different people who each have something unique and different to say - and different approaches to their work
• His young creative team also provide extra lessons and tips and techniques and seem to me to be very competent at their jobs.
• I'm impressed with everyone he has used to date (and those who know my reviews in the past of other 'challenge' will know I'm NOT averse to saying when I find the hired help fall way short of what we should expect from a professional programme. There are people reading this who will know who I'm talking about!)
6. It involves six contestants of different ages, backgrounds and interest.  
• NONE of whom get knocked out 
• ALL of whom start out as competent photographers who have demonstrable ability to go further - which is a very refreshing change..... 
• ALL of whom grow and change with the process of tackling a wide variety of briefs.
  
• I get the feeling they took some care in the photographers they selected because there were only ever going to be six participants!
  
7. It treats them - and us - as adults! So much more impressive as an approach - to create an informative and entertaining programme which is also very educational.

The search is on for an exciting new name in British photography. Six talented photographers from across the UK embark on the photographic masterclass of a lifetime with Rankin.
BBC website

 I do hope we see the programme repeated with more series.

Reasons for artists to take photography seriously

I've often noticed that the composition, design, colour variation and patterns and tonal variations of good photos often seem (to me) to be a lot better than the artwork produced by people of similar levels of ability and standing.

Good photographers think about impact and how to create an image which captures the eye.

It's a bit the same as noticing the attributes of great illustrators who do pretty much the same thing.

They all work hard at the structure and picture quality of the image they want to create. How it tells the story and how it works with "what works" and their own values and qualities that they hold dear.

In addition, photographers often routinely work in series. Even if they are jobbing on commissions, there's very often a series of their own work going on in the background.

 

Could it be that photographers, designers and illustrators work much harder on what makes a great image - rather than about how to prefect their equivalent of how to lay down paint?

 

I know that in my own world of self-imposed art education, I regard instruction by those who know about photography and design at least as important as looking back at the lessons we can all take from art history - or tuition from contemporary artists.

 

It's emphatically not about taking better photographs to work from!

It's much more about learning how to see great images - and understanding why they work - and creating a perspective all your own.

I RECOMMEND THE PROGRAMME. I think it's got a lot of useful lessons for artists as well as aspiring photographers.

There's on episode left - broadcast next Monday on BBC at 9pm. Or you watch the entire series via BBC iPlayer

Episodes to date

 

How to photograph art

This is about a page for artists which tells you how to photograph your art - on my Art Business Information for Artists website

Its target audience is artists who want to prepare images of their art for:

• their website and social media - to promote their art
• to enter open exhibitions and art competitions
• for exhibition catalogues and other publications
• for presentations and online teaching.
  

I wish I'd completed it a long time ago - but it's finally been published and I'm sure it will continue to be improved over time.

Digital image files are now the standard way images are recorded.
It's ESSENTIAL that artists need to know how to capture a digital file - via photography or scanning,
how to process a digital file and the best ways to backup your inventory of images of your art.

How to photograph your art

How to photograph your art - for artists

You can find it as follows 

• Go to Art Business Info. for Artists
  
• Go to PRACTICE
  
• then Image Management for Artists 
• then Photography of Art for Artists

 

Image Management for Artists

Photography of Art for Artists

On this page about you can find:

• Introduction to how to photograph your art
• BASICS for photographing art
• Image Selection and Preparation
• Guidelines and videos about how to photograph art
• How to photograph behind glass
• ​Checking digital accuracy and correcting colour
• Guidelines on photographing art for major art competitions
• ​Digital File Formats and Image Resolution
• Introduction to professional photography
• Glossary: Digital File Terminology
• Photographing artists - for marketing purposes (to follow)

How to scan art and back up image files

On two other pages in the Image Management section, you can also learn about

• How to scan artwork This section looks at:
• Why scanning is the best alternative to photography
• Different types of scanner 
• DIY: how to scan artwork
• Professional digital imaging services
• Glossary of scanning terminology
• How to backup image files - how to create and store archives of your images
  

RA Summer Exhibition 2021: Call for Entries

 This is about how to enter the Summer Exhibition 2021 of the Royal Academy of Arts - as in

• a summer exhibition which is actually more Autumn / Winter as it is being held between 
• opens - Wednesday 22nd September 2021 
• closes - Sunday 2nd January 2022 
• the Call for Entries opened yesterday 
• the Digital Submission closes on Monday 24th May 2021. 

The RA Summer Exhibition 2021 is being held in the Autumn / Winter

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Yinka Shonibare RA will be the co-ordinator of this year's exhibition and chair the selection panel

We have news!

Renowned artist Yinka Shonibare RA will be co-ordinating this year’s #RASummer Exhibition.

The theme of ‘Reclaiming Magic’ will celebrate the visceral joy of creating art, and give a platform to artists marginalised by the western art narrative. @SHONIBARESTUDIO pic.twitter.com/U6INVv0GMF

— Royal Academy (@royalacademy) April 8, 2021

Themes for this year's exhibition

The theme of the overall exhibition in 2021 is ‘Reclaiming Magic’.

"The show is to be titled 'Re-claiming Magic' and will transcend a singular Western art history's point of reference to focus on magic and a return to the visceral aspects of art-making. The exhibition will be a celebration of the transformative powers of the magical in art, a return to the ritualistic and the sheer joy of making. Western Renaissance art education, Modernist and Conceptual Art practices led to the devaluing of art practices from other cultures in their unmediated forms. This exhibition seeks to restore value to marginalised practices, to reclaim the magic of those works in the context of the Royal Academy. I seek to propose a new pride in the concept of 'Primitivism' as an equally valid form of enlightenment alongside other Art practices".

The theme for the Architecture Room at the RA Summer Exhibition 2021 will 

• consider architecture through the expression of “Climate and Geography (or vice versa)” 
• focusing on the context: site, geography, climate, political climate, people, community and culture.

which sounds interesting!

Selection and Hanging Commitee 2021

It's worth studying the background and interests of those who comprise the Selection and Hanging Committee.

Those responsible for the selection of work - and then hanging it in the exhibition - are as follows. I've indicated their respective category (of election to the RA), the year of election after their name - and embedded 

• their website in their name
• their RA page in the year of election

ARCHITECT

• Sir David Adjaye OBE (2017) - awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 2021 - an award winning Ghanaian-British architect known to infuse his artistic sensibilities and ethos for community-driven projects

PAINTERS

• Tony Bevan (2007) - the security certificate on his website has expired so Google won't let me see it.... His RA Page suggests he's not had a recent exhibition.  You can see 12 artworks by or after Tony Bevan at the Art UK website - but they are all old and pre-election to the RA. Apparently his subject matter is his head.
• Vanessa Jackson (2015) - a British painter, notable for her abstracted wall installation paintings.
• Mali Morris (2010) From Oct 2019 - Oct 2020 she was Professor of Painting at RA Schools.
• Humphrey Ocean (2004) I rather like his very simplified paintings of people 
• Bob and Roberta Smith (2013) Patrick Brill OBE RA, better known by his pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith, is a British contemporary artist, writer, author, musician, art education advocate and keynote speaker.  He's the one who always seems to produce paintings of sloganeering text - there again he did train as a sign artist!

PRINTMAKERS

• Emma Stibbon (2013) - Engraver - works primarily in drawing and print on paper depicting environments that are undergoing transformation including the polar regions, volcanoes, deserts, coastal and urban locations. Currently Senior Lecturer in Fine Art Printmaking at the University of Brighton.

SCULPTORS

• Eva Rothschild (2014) - she designs and sculpts in geometric forms.
• Yinka Shonibare CBE (2013) (Co-Ordinator) -  explores issues of race and class through the media of painting, sculpture, photography and film.

How to enter

The basics are:

1. Create your account prior to submission. 
• Submitted in 2020? You should already have a Summer Exhibition account. 
• Login to your account, or request a new password if you’ve forgotten.
• First time entrant? Register now and we’ll send you a link to your new account.
2. Pay your entry fee
• You can enter one or two works, for a fee of £35 per work, which covers our administration costs. You can pay this online by credit or debit card.
3. Enter the details and upload images of your artwork

A longer version covers everything you need to know

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please note that dates may be subject to change.

Basically it assumes no third wave after everybody gets back from their summer holiday - IF they can leave the country!

1. You NEED TO READ carefully:

"Hold Still" moves offline and onto billboards around the UK

Back in September I wrote about the "Hold Still" digital exhibition on NPG website. Since then the digital exhibition has had over 4.8 million page views to date.

Hold Still is an ambitious community project, launched in May 2020, to create a unique collective portrait of the UK during lockdown.

Today the National Portrait Gallery announced that a Community Exhibition can now be seen on billboards around the country. 

From today, the final selection of portraits, unveiled in a digital exhibition in September, will be:

• exhibited for a period of four weeks on billboard and poster sites across the country, including at bus stops, in high streets and outside train stations. 
• Groups of works will be shown on posters in cities such as Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and London. 

• Many of the portraits will also be displayed individually in the entrant’s hometown with locations ranging from Belfast, Liverpool and Southampton to more rural areas such as Blaenau Ffestiniog (Gwynedd), Delabole (Cornwall), Marston Moretaine (Bedfordshire), Knypersle (Staffordshire Moorlands) Oban (Argyll) and Thorpe Audlin (West Yorkshire). 
• Some of the portraits will also feature on community screens in over 1,500 Co-op stores across the UK.
  
• One of the portraits ‘Melanie, March 2020’, taken by Johannah Churchill, has been recreated as a hand-painted mural in Manchester city centre.

All one hundred works will also be on display at Hold Still Exhibition at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire from 23 October until the 6 December 2020.

The exhibition has been led by the Duchess of Cambridge as Patron of the National Portrait Gallery. Today The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Waterloo in south London to mark the launch of the UK-wide Hold Still community exhibition and viewed the final one hundred Hold Still portraits displayed on billboards outside Waterloo station, one of 112 community exhibition sites in 80 towns, cities and areas across the UK. 

The Hold Still community exhibition sites are in the following towns, cities and areas across the UK. Some locations have more than one community exhibition site.

• A - Aberystwyth, Arundel, Alrewas (National Memorial Arboretum), Ashford (Kent), 
• B - Baldock, Balham, Belfast, Bethnal Green, Bingley, Birmingham, Bishop's Stortford, Bootle, Borehamwood, Bournemouth, Bradford, Bredbury Romiley, Brighton, Bristol,  Brockley, Burgess Hill, Burnt Oak
• C - Cambridge, Cardiff, Carshalton, Cheltenham, Cockenzie And Port Seton, Croydon, Cumnock
• D - Dulwich
• E - Eaglescliffe, East Ham, Eastbourne, Edgware, Edinburgh
• F - Fareham, Finsbury Park, Folkestone, Forest Hill
• G - Gidea Park, Glasgow South, Gosport, Gravesend
• H - Harringay, Hemel Hempstead, Hitchin, Hyde
• K - Kensington
• L - Lancing, Lewes, Litherland, Liverpool
• M - Manchester, Marylebone, 
• N - Norwood, Notting Hill
• O - Oxford
• P - Peterborough Rural, Poole, Preston, Purley, Putney
• R - Ramsgate, Reading, Roehampton, Rotherham
• S - Sale, Southampton, Southfields, St Ives, Stenhousemuir, Stoke On Trent, Sutton
• T - Teddington, Tottenham, 
• W - Walthamstow, Wanstead, Waterloo, Westminster (National Portrait Gallery), Wimbledon, Wokingham

About the Exhibition

Hold Still invited people of all ages from across the UK to submit a photographic portrait, which they had taken during lockdown, in a six-week period during May and June. A panel of judges, including the Duchess of Cambridge and National Portrait Gallery Director, Nicholas Cullinan, selected the final 100 portraits from 31,598 submissions.

Focussed on three core themes – Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal and Acts of Kindness – the images selected present a unique record of our shared and individual experiences during this extraordinary period of history, conveying humour and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope.

The exhibition is supported by the Co-op, which launched ‘Co-operate’ in April to help connect vulnerable people to local and national support initiatives and has recently provided emergency relief funding to 4,500 community causes. 

"Hold Still" digital exhibition on NPG website

Earlier this year, HRH Duchess of Cambridge - who has been the Patron of the National Portrait Gallery since 2012 - asked everybody to send images for the Hold Still Exhibition - to reflect what life was like during lockdown

Today a digital exhibition of the 100 portrait photographs selected from the 31,598 entries have been unveiled on the National Portrait Gallery website

the images present a unique record of our shared and individual experiences during this extraordinary period of history, conveying humour and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope.

Images #1-3 of the 100 selected for the digital exhibition "Hold Still"

Hold Still: Three Core Themes

There are three core themes to the exhibition

• Helpers and Heroes, 
• Your New Normal and 
• Acts of Kindness.

Click here to view the images individually - and do take the time to read the narratives alongside each. Sometimes they are not what they seem.

View them all together in the video (below) released today by the National Portrait Gallery.

The final 100 present a unique and highly personal record of this extraordinary period in our history. From virtual birthday parties, handmade rainbows and community clapping to brave NHS staff, resilient keyworkers and people dealing with illness, isolation and loss. The images convey humour and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope - expressing and exploring both our shared and individual experiences.

Please note this exhibition includes text and images recording people’s recent experiences, which some visitors might find upsetting. If you have been affected by any of the issues reflected in the exhibition, and feel you need support, please click here for some suggested sources of support.

How the exhibition came about

The call for entries for the exhibition was launched by The Duchess of Cambridge and the Gallery back in May

Hold Still invited people of all ages, from across the UK to submit a photographic portrait which they had taken during lockdown. The project aimed to capture and document the spirit, the mood, the hopes, the fears and the feelings of the nation as we continued to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

More images of lockdown in 2020

Judging Panel

The Judges

The Hold Still judging panel included: 

• The Duchess of Cambridge - who is a keen photographer and is a Patron of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Photographic Society
• Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery - who's grown a beard for the occasion!
• Lemn Sissay MBE, writer and poet - who some will remember sat for a Portrait in the Final of Sky Portrait Artist of the Year 2020 - in the National Portrait Gallery
• Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England and 
• Maryam Wahid, photographer.

The criteria used for assessment of the images by the panel focused on the emotions and experiences they convey rather than on their photographic quality or technical expertise.

You can 

• hear about the selection process (in what is currently a really badly edited video version of a Zoom meeting! It NEEDS SORTING!)
• review the Director's Choice - personally I'd have been more interested in the Duchess's choice!

The Exhibition

A selection of the photographs featured in the digital exhibition will also be shown in towns and cities across the UK later in the year.


Note: International law firm Taylor Wessing are supporting the Hold Still project in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery. They are long-term supporters of the Gallery and have sponsored the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize for the past 12 years.