Whitechapel Gallery Announce London Open Artists

Whitechapel Gallery

The Whitechapel Gallery calls for all artists aged 26 or over living and working in London to enter The London Open, the Gallery’s triennial open submission exhibition. Providing a snapshot of art now, the exhibition aims to showcase the most dynamic and engaging work being made across the capital to an international audience in 2012.

The Whitechapel Gallery announces the artists included in The London Open, the Gallery’s triennial exhibition, which is open to all artists aged 26 or over living and working in London. From over 1800 applicants, 35 artists have been selected by a panel of high profile art world figures, including writer and critic Patricia Bickers, artist Rodney Graham, collector Jack Kirkland, curator Marta Kuzma and Whitechapel Gallery curator Kirsty Ogg.
 
The exhibition will provide a snapshot of art in London now, showcasing some of the most dynamic work being made across the capital to an international audience in 2012. The London Open offers a timely opportunity to see a selection of the latest developments and emerging trends in contemporary art.
 
Selected from open submission, the exhibition includes new and more established artists. Alice Channer, Sarah Dobai, Robert Orchardson, Amikam Toren and Roy Voss will be shown alongside more emerging artists including Dale Carney, Beth Collar and Rehana Zaman.
 
An engagement with political and social subject matter has emerged as a thread running through many of the works which have been selected. A number of artists use performance and DIY printing whilst others investigate cults, outsider art and counter-cultural groups as a way to explore the world today. The exhibition includes Leigh Clarke’s masks of political figures commonly worn during demonstrations, Nicholas Cobb’s photographs of plastic models staged in fictitious riot scenes at Bluewater shopping centre, and Pio Abad’s work featuring Saddam Hussein’s gold taps printed on an imitation Versace silk scarf.
 
The London Open includes work in a diverse range of media from painting, sculpture, film, textile and photography to installation and performance. It includes Paul Westcombe’s intricate illustrations on used take-away coffee cups, Lucienne Cole’s pop-culture inspired performances and Martin John Callanan’s conceptual works, such as International Directory of Fictitious Telephone Numbers.
 
The artists in The London Open are: Pio Abad, Peter Abrahams, Caroline Achaintre, Greta Alfaro, Sol Archer, Thomas Ball, Martin John Callanan, Dale Carney, Paul Carter, Alice Channer, Leigh Clarke, Nicholas Cobb, Lucienne Cole, Beth Collar, Chris Coombes, Shona Davies, Jon Klein and Dave Monaghan, Arnaud Desjardin, Sarah Dobai, Shaun Doyle and Mally Mallinson, Ana Genoves, Mark Harris, Emma Holmes, John Hughes, Nikolai Ishchuk, Robert Orchardson, Heather Phillipson, Ruth Proctor, Amikam Toren, Charlie Tweed, Roy Voss, Paul Westcombe and Rehana Zaman.
 
2012 marks the 80th anniversary of the Gallery’s open submission exhibition which started in 1932 as the East End Academy ‘for all artists living or working East of the famous Aldgate Pump’. It later became the Whitechapel Open, and showcased artists early in their careers such as Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie, Cornelia Parker, Grayson Perry, Bob & Roberta Smith, Richard Wentworth and Rachel Whiteread. For 2012 and beyond the Gallery is expanding the reach of the exhibition to artists London-wide to recognise the Gallery’s cultural role in the city.
 
Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director, Whitechapel Gallery, said, ‘There has never been a more exciting time to be an artist in London. It feels like Paris at the turn of the 20th century or New York in the 1980s – a nexus of cultural creativity.  We are throwing open the doors of our historic institution to all artists creating work in the capital, as the world comes to our doorstep in 2012.’
The London Open offers a timely opportunity to see the latest developments and key emerging trends in contemporary art. Selected from open submissions, all of the works will have been made since 2000.
 
A panel of leading art experts will select work by both new and more established artists. The panel includes writer and critic Patricia Bickers, artist Rodney Graham, collector Jack Kirkland, curator Marta Kuzma and Whitechapel Gallery curator Kirsty Ogg.
 
2012 marks the 80th anniversary of the Gallery’s open submission exhibition which started in 1932 as the East End Academy ‘for all artists living or working East of the famous Aldgate Pump’.  It later became the Whitechapel Open, and showcased artists early in their careers such as Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie, Cornelia Parker, Grayson Perry, Bob & Roberta Smith, Richard Wentworth and Rachel Whiteread.   For 2012 and beyond the Gallery is expanding the reach of the exhibition to artists London-wide to recognise the Gallery’s cultural role in the city.

Tags

,