Call for entries - Exeter Contemporary Open

First held in 2006, the Exeter Contemporary Open is one of the UKs most prominent regional contemporary art competitions, culminating in an annual exhibition at Exeter Phoenix, the South West’s foremost multi-artform venue and exhibition centre. Exeter Contemporary Open provides an important national platform for contemporary visual art with an emphasis on supporting new and emerging talent alongside more established artists.

Open to all contemporary artists working in any medium who live in the UK, works for the exhibition are selected by a panel of specialists, which in the past has included artists and curators such as David Shrigley, Ceri Hand, Alex Hartley, Hannah Firth, Day & Gluckman and Kevin Hunt. George Vasey, who selected for last year’s exhibition has recently been announced as curator for this year’s Turner Prize exhibition that will form part of Hull’s City of Culture 2017 celebrations.

The submission process for the 2017 exhibition is now open and artists working across a variety of disciplines are invited to submit work. The shortlisted artists will be announced in July and exhibited at the exhibition between 14 September and 4 November 2017 at Exeter Phoenix. The Overall Award winner, announced at an exclusive awards ceremony and opening event on 13th September, will receive a £1000 prize and an Additional Award winner will receive £500. Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite work and the Audience Choice Award winner will receive £200.

Last year’s Overall Award Winner, painter Devlin Shea has recently returned from a residency and solo exhibition at the Academy of Visual Arts in Hong Kong and currently features in a prestigious group exhibition called These rotten Words at Cardiff’s Chapter arts centre.

Artist and Exeter Contemporary Open finalist Paul Merrick said, ‘Just taking part in this show has been a fantastic experience … It's all about having conversations and making connections which go on to influence my work and might lead to future collaborations. Exeter Contemporary Open has delivered on the whole experience.'

Visit exetercontemporaryopen.com for more information on the exhibition and details of how to apply. The deadline for submissions is Friday 16th June 2017.