Louise Bristow: Kiosk-1 (Festival winner 2011)
House Open is a curated open submissions exhibition, open to all artists exhibiting in the May Artists Open Houses festival. It is a showcase of some of the most exciting work from artists exhibiting in the Artists Open Houses. This year, alongside established artists, the exhibition includes work by emerging artists, selected from students on the University of Brighton Fine Art degree courses.
This year House Open moves to its new location at Brighton Dome’s Foyer and Founders Room. This central and prestigious location provides a great opportunity to showcase an exciting selection from this year’s Open Houses Artists.
Submissions were invited from artists working in all media, including textiles, jewellery, ceramics, painting, sculpture photography and film. Artists were invited
to respond to the House Open theme of Hidden Stories, but work in media not directly applicable to this theme was also welcomed for consideration by the House Open curators.
Hidden Stories reflects the Dome’s building and history, drawing together threads from Brighton Festival’s themes of Reminiscence and Memory, and the references to the overlooked and the everyday in the work of lead artist for HOUSE 2012, David Batchelor.
Over 90 artists submitted work for the exhibition, and, as in previous years, only a small percentage of work could be selected. The wide variety and high quality of the submissions made the selection an enjoyable, sometimes difficult process. We have focused on selecting work that stood out both conceptually and in its execution, often drawn to the unexpected and the challenging. The works on show reflect the vibrancy and dynamism of art on show throughout the city in the Artists Open Houses.
This year, for the first time, House Open includes work by art students selected from the 2nd-year degree shows at the University of Brighton, held in March 2012. The shows included work from a wide number of degree courses, ranging from Visual Art, Printmaking, Sculpture and Photography to Performance, Moving Image, Digital Music and Critical Practice.
Much of the work was engaging and impressive, sadly not all of it suitable for installation in the Dome’s busy spaces. The work shown has been chosen for its quality and innovation, and the selectors are delighted to be able to show this work alongside that of more established artists in House Open.
We hope you will enjoy the exhibition in its new, larger setting, and find the works on display as stimulating and thought provoking as we did during the selection.
The exhibition will run from 10.00 – 5.00 Tuesdays - Sundays, 5th May - 29th May 2012
Prizes
Festival Artist Of The Year Prize: Open to all selected artists and makers. The winning artist will be awarded a prize of £600 and will become the Artists Open Houses Artist of the Year – their work providing the cover artwork for next year’s AOH brochure cover and accompanying publicity materials.
Visitors Choice Prize: VisitBrighton will be sponsoring a ‘Visitors Choice’ prize. The winning artist’s work will be shown in a dedicated gallery section of the VisitBrighton website throughout the coming year and VisitBrighton will offer other promotional opportunities for the artist.
