Open Exhibitions - A Note on Selecting Artworks
November marks the annual Open Submission Exhibition at Dunamaise Gallery. Each year artists from all over Ireland submit works for a Guest Selector to curate one Exhibition from. The task is challenging, and the space is limited. As we approach this time again, we share the following words of insight and reflection, from 2023 Guest Selector, Blaise Smith...
November marks the annual Open Submission Exhibition at Dunamaise Gallery. Each year artists from all over Ireland submit works for a Guest Selector to curate one Exhibition from. The task is challenging, and the space is limited. As we approach this time again, we share the following words of insight and reflection, from 2023 Guest Selector, Blaise Smith...
"…As someone who has experienced my fair share of unselected emails over the years, please be assured your work was considered carefully, more than once, and I appreciate all the work that goes into just deciding to present yourself as an artist in any kind of capacity, and especially in an open submission.
In the end, as a selector, I have to follow my instinct and my own taste, so it is hugely subjective... The good news is that next year in Dunamaise and in all the other submission shows there will be a different selector or selectors and they will have totally different interests and taste. So I strongly recommend that everyone keeps applying to open submission shows - they are a great opportunity to further your career, and burnish your reputation, and Ireland has an abundance of them. Enter any that seem to be a good fit for you, and if none fit enter anyway.
Go and look at any show where you didn’t make it and assess the Selected works there… Often it is simply an attention to finish - to making it look very carefully considered. The truth is that this quality often emerges as the tip of an iceberg of work.
I wish you all the very best with your work and thank you so much for uploading it and filling in all the forms.
Remember unselected works set a bar that the selected ones must get over to qualify! Bear that in mind when you get selected in next years show!"
