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Jackson's competition
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Message
Posted
And not forgetting that the chances of getting a painting accepted at the RA annual exhibition is minimal… less than minimal if there’s such a thing!
Most of the hanging spaces in the gallery are quite rightly reserved for full RA members, leaving very limited space for others…
If you were fortunate enough to have a work accepted this doesn’t give you automatic RA status - far from it. That’s the first hurdle of many… I’ve looked into the ROI, pretty much the same rules apply for wannabe members.
Rewards are worth it no doubt!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
I remember seeing a programme some years ago which showed the final selection process for the RA summer exhibition. Out of around 16,500 digitally submitted pieces, 4,000 were shortlisted for the final selection process which then had to be whittled down to around 1,200. I was surprised to see the paintings carried conveyor-belt style past the seated judges and it was a quick yes or no to each one! (I read afterwards that one particular painting had been selected because one of the judges like the breed of dog which was the subject of the painting!)
Edited
by Jenny Harris
Posted
Lewis hit it right on the head. Please note I am not trying to be negative, it’s the experience I have had. I could tell so many stories about entering competition. Not to say I have not won anything at competitions I have. As for the annual RA show. Just take a long look at the work on those walls it mostly gives the impression of a luck dip. Take competitions you usually get 50 short listed. You look through them all and anyone, anyone could come out on top. The element of good fortune or luck as some call it is the key. That’s without mentioning the cost of submitting work to galleries just to be considered. It’s good to have a go and after a time you see how the land lays and you step back a bit. As i always say. Life experience is the big teacher, only then have we learned something through experience. With art I have had some wonderful experiences and I am sure many other here have also.
Posted
The one thing you never are is negative, John - so don't worry about anyone thinking that.
I've very rarely submitted anything for a competition - and certainly wouldn't get my hopes up if I'd sent anything in to the big ones. I wouldn't discourage anyone else, though - the one thing you can be quite sure of is that if you don't submit anything, you're not going to be selected; I've never visited the Summer Exhibition of the RA, and am very unlikely to now; I've seen television broadcasts of it though, and found it overwhelming even via a screen - so much work jostling for attention; I wouldn't want my stuff there: it'd be swamped! I think though that young artists should probably show their work wherever and whenever they can - get used to competition, but more importantly accustom yourself to exposure - that way, they'll get criticism: much of it stupid and ill-informed, but it's the crits that are helpful that they need.
And obviously - pay no heed to the Guardian's art critic, should your work fall before his jaundiced eye: he's probably not the worst of the bunch, but in general (there have been exceptions, like the late Robert Hughes) those who opine on others' work seem to be looking for something that I don't feel many artists are willing to give them. Take a look at the judges, then, before you enter an art competition - be warned by the wayward judgements of the "experts" on Landscape/Portrait Artist of the Year .... if one of them is on the judging panel, steel yourself in advance: it's more likely to be them than you, if work is rejected. (And anyway, how can anyone be expected to select paintings from a shortlist of 1,500, or whatever figure it was for the RA exhibitions? They do have an impossible job.)
Posted
Robert Hughes that rings a bell. He was out spoken and towards the end of his time here he laid into the likes of Andy Warhol, Jack the dripper and others. Critics in general I feel keep in line with the status quo, they have a living to make. Let’s just say Robert Hughes’s was honest in his assessment of what he was looking at. He made waves.
Posted
If everyone had the same views though, art would be very boring indeed. Pollock was of his time. As was Warhol. Like one, not so much the other. One of the most expensive paintings I sold was a extra large glow in the dark Pollock. I went through a phase!
Competitions on the other hand!
Some years I do, some years I don't bother. Jacksons last year had so many submissions they not only had a short list and a long list they had an extended long list. That was as far as I got. I did better some years ago but as I changed my style so did my chances of getting into competitions.
Posted
I only ever enter the TALP at Patchings competition. I’ve been entering for ten years or so and have had my fair share of success over the years, in both having work accepted for the exhibition every year but one… and winning awards… which also means prizes… and I’ve had some great useful art related prizes!
For me personally, and most importantly, it gives me an incentive - a deadline to work to, and a chance to view my work alongside others in a gallery setting (albeit this is secondary).