Regular readers might possibly remember that several months ago I applied for exhibition with the Great North Art Show. This is an annual event that takes place in the cathedral in the city of Ripon. The earliest of its catalogues I have in my files dates from 2004. For some years I was actually a member of its organising committee. It has now come to be a very well-established feature of the arts calendar in the region, and every year the competition to be included as an exhibitor become stiffer. This year, I’m afraid, I didn’t make it. The comment of the judges was not negative, but merely noted that they were anxious to give space to a large number of newer figures on the scene who are now applying. I was interested, in the light of this, to see what was on show.
We drove over to Ripon yesterday and I was able to spend a couple of hours in the cathedral, viewing this year’s GNAS. It was an interesting and instructive experience. Indeed, the selectors had given space to a number of artists whose work I had never encountered before, and I have to say that it was with some relief that I found that several very regular participants over past years had been asked to “rest” for a while (assuming, that is, that they had applied this year).* There was a welcome sense of freshness in the offering on show there, and I welcomed the novelty of an associated display of sculpture. In the light of these features, and given the relatively limited space available to the exhibition, I didn’t feel slighted by the rejection of my own application. Even so, on reflection I did emerge with a feeling of dissatisfaction about the experience, and has taken me a little time to put my finger on the reasons for this.
In the first place, I have never thought it a good idea to include photography in the same exhibition as painting and the other graphic arts. It invites the infamous comparison, “What a lovely painting! It looks almost like a photograph!” together with its corollary, “What a great photograph! It looks almost like a painting!” When I was on the organising committee I ran a separate show for photographers, and I reckon that this is how things ought to be.
There is a deeper sense of dissatisfaction that emerges from this point. Although this is not necessarily a consequence of exhibiting photographs along with paintings and prints, in this particular instance, bearing in mind the specific selection of photographs involved, there was a tendency to prioritise technical innovation over aesthetic content. Then it occurred to me that this had probably been a systematic criterion on the part of the selectors more generally. This should not be surprising, of course, in that recently innovation within any medium has come to be heavily valued as a measure of artistic worth throughout the arts. “Pushing the boundaries” has come to be regarded in itself as an important (possibly the most important) indicator of artistic interest. Indeed, this was a feature of several of the entries, in which astonishing technical virtuosity went along with an “aftertaste” in the form of a question. “If I were to buy that piece, would I go on finding greater depth of interest in it, after the initial ‘Wow!’ response had faded?” Typically, my answer was, “Probably not.”
Searching for a term that would sum up adequately the spirit that seemed to have infused the selection at this year’s GNAS I lit upon the word “decorative”. Of course, selectors in any exhibition are entitled to determine their own criteria and to implement these. It did make me realise one thing, however, and that is the importance of knowing what these criteria might be before any artist devotes time and energy to making a bid for selection. Knowing what I know now, it is clear that my own approach this year was thoroughly out of place, and by their own criteria the panel were perfectly right to reject what I offered. The sombreness of my “Maltese Suite”, especially viewed through the lens of my titles chosen from the poetry of T.S. Eliot, must have seemed a bit like a death’s head at a feast. Hindsight, as they say, is a wonderful thing, and often 20-20 vision!
I don’t think that I feel bad about this experience. After all, it does need to be placed against the fact that I sold two pictures this morning, with a possibility of two more–if her husband likes them. It does mean, however, that as I gear up to select and present material for the winter season of exhibitions, I will do so with a keen eye to the context of what it is that I put on offer.
PS: By the way, do check out the Great North Art Show, on www.greatnorthartshow.co.uk.
*With one exception! But I will name no names.