After much deliberation, 403 exhibits by 231 artists were chosen by a panel of selectors that included Rosalind Stoddart, Artistic Director of Fermynwoods Contemporary Arts in Northamptonshire.
“I have always seen the Leicester City Open as an important event for the East Midlands region through being a good platform for showing the broad range of the creativity and talent in the area,” she commented.
Lars Tharp, BBC Antiques Roadshow Presenter, was also on the panel and described Selection Day as “a riot of mixed media”.
Singularity of vision and skilled dedication can be found in the works of the artists who have successfully submitted works over the years to the Open.
Leicester artist Peter Bak’s beautifully crafted wooden artefacts have been consistently popular with gallery visitors and this year should be no different with Bak exhibiting a guinea pig, a seal and a flying fish.
Ken Coulbeck produces irresistible automata from recycled metal objects and this year he’s exhibiting both a dalek and a robot lamp.
Equally stunning are Kevin Holdaway’s screen-printed urban landscapes and husband and wife team Ralph and Nora Dalzell’s beautifully composed water colours.
A number of top quality printmakers from Leicester are exhibiting, including Sean Rorke and Sarah Kirby, and successful painters Paul Wright and Satta Hasham are both exhibiting new works. Also included is Britany and Me, an unusually striking painting by Duncan Fegredo.
Duncan Thompson, winner of last year’s City Gallery prize, will also be exhibiting, while fresh talent is represented with newcomers to the Open including Leicester-based artist Zoe Childerley.
She is showing a series of beautiful and disquieting giclee prints of children in landscapes. Artist team, Dot is exhibiting a rather novel light work.
“The exhibition has been very well received,” said Andrea Colver, Marketing Officer at The City Gallery. “We’ve had nothing but good comments and positive feedback from the public.”
Visitors to the exhibition can vote for their favourite work of art in the People’s Choice Prize before Friday December 3 2004 and one lucky voter can win a bottle of champagne.
The top 10 results will be shown on the BBC Leicester Website from Wednesday December 8.
