A shortlist of 30 artists are waiting with baited breath to hear the announcement of who has won an award of £1,500 in a new Open Art Competition and Exhibition being launched at the Torch Theatre’s Joanna Field Gallery this week.
With the aim of being cutting edge, visually stimulating and thought-provoking, local, national and international artists practicing in contemporary and conceptual art, inclusive of painting, installation, film, photography, print, sculpture and ceramics were invited to submit entries. The thirty artists whose work was selected for exhibition were recently notified but they have to wait until the Preview Night to hear who has won ‘the pot’!
The panel of selectors for Pembrokeshire Open 2010 includes Anthony Shapland from G39, an artist-run gallery in Cardiff which specialises in contemporary work, together with artists David Fitzjohn and Alison Hayes and the Torch Theatre’s Artistic Director, Peter Doran.
Work from all shortlisted artists will be on display until 28 March. Entrants hail from Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and, further afield, from Cardiff, Bristol, London and even Valencia in Spain! Their work is as varied as the geographic spread: from an installation made with thirteen 20-metre lengths of crocheted fishing line to small sculptures made from wire, plaster, plasticine and card; an installation depicting telephone cables – with a twist; photographs reminiscent of 16th and 17th century Dutch still life paintings; a wall drawing which the artist will spend a week creating in-situ at the Torch; work which references traditional Chinese art forms such as origami and calligraphy and applies them to contemporary contexts; an unusual woven textile sculpture; a collection of completely inspired and hugely varied paintings and drawings and a work made from woodcuts creating large blocks and prints measuring eight-foot square which will be displayed on the front elevation of the Torch building.
In all, 19 paintings, 4 photographs, 5 sculptures, 3 installations, 1 wall painting, 1 tapestry, 1 DVD, 5 prints and 1 drawing are expected. All works can be seen at the Joanna Field Gallery in Milford Haven’s Torch Theatre from 27 February to 28 March. Further details can be found at www.torchtheatre.co.uk.
