The Nottingham Castle Annual Open 2011

The Annual Open at the Castle may have a lengthy history but there is a strong focus on representing the contemporary arts scene in the East and now West Midlands. The exhibition has an aim to support both younger and more established artists and represent the breadth of practices within the region. This year’s Castle Open features video, performance, collage, drawing, ceramics, painting, jewellery, installation, sculpture and printmaking submitted by artists from across the Midlands.  

Although at times the galleries can slip from being crammed with surprises into congested the exhibition reflects the diversity of a thriving art community. From a barefoot man wearing a gorilla mask, to twin figures made entirely of shells and a light aroma of vanilla from seeds carefully placed between paintwork[1] there is a near overwhelming array of art and craft works, well deserving of a lengthy exploration by visitors. 

Being exhibited in the Castle is already a significant achievement as the 127 works displayed this year were drawn from a submissions pool of nearly a thousand, but the audience of the opening night still had a real buzz of excitement in anticipation of the prize giving ceremony. Up for grabs were prizes donated by the generous sponsors of the Open Show including opportunities for solo exhibitions at the Tarpey Gallery in Castle Donington, the New Art Exchange in Hyson Green, Nottingham and of course the much coveted Castle Prize, a solo show which runs alongside the Castle Open 2012.

Awarded the Castle Prize in 2010 Anna Collette Hunter’s ‘Stirring the Swarm’ is a hugely ambitious installation taking on the architecture of the Castle’s grand staircase with a swirling mass of ceramic insects stretching up across the walls. Each element of the swarm has been individually crafted and range from a few centimetres to a few inches. With the Castle’s aim to attract a greater level of interest from those working with craft techniques Hunter’s achievement here could not be a better endorsement of what a great showcase the Open can be. From the bugs beneath each step of the stairs to those that migrate upwards in great looping waves, the Swarm had the audience crowding for a closer look.   

The Grand Prize recipient Frank Kent was recently artist in residence at Surface Gallery, where there were a number of opportunities to see his practice in progress in their characterful attic. The stately surrounds of the Castle are a very different context but the two works on display recall a sensation of the spontaneity of their creation. Diseased Painting and Nice & Smooth are both paintings on canvas in the traditional sense but also installations that stretch out onto the supporting gallery wall. They have a washed out lushness to them retaining a succinct experimental approach, with the action, the event of oil and spray paint connecting with surface, still very much apparent. Kent’s work is both formal and playful; his flirtation with the beauty of chance in the process of painting is well worth watching.

Alex Pain, winner of The Castle Prize 2011, is a recent graduate of Nottingham Trent’s Fine Art course. His sculptures put in conjunction materials that exaggerate each other, the rough grey of concrete against the bright flash of copper, the smooth shine of steel next to porous grey-green foam. Although, within this exhibition ‘Jetsam’ may struggle for prominence amidst the crowded galleries’ walls and floors, Pain’s deft alchemical employment of these industrial materials is, in my view, deserving of the interest and appreciation that will be generated by this recognition.

One of the great achievements of the Castle Open is to create an event that celebrates the variety and high quality of visual artwork being produced in the Midlands. With increasing submissions this is clearly something that is being supported by creative practitioners in Nottingham and further afield. While for every show there must be a growing struggle to whittle down which work to select and shoehorn it all in, seeing so many works gathered in one place cannot help but impress. I am sure that of the over 500 hundred audience members on the opening night many of those who are makers in any field will be keen to be part of the Castle Open 2012.

I caught up with Alex Pain to talk about his plans for his solo show next year.

Did you have any idea before the prize was announced that you might be in the running?

I had no clue. I had my fingers crossed for the John E Wrights vouchers. I was excited to see what Frank Kent would do with a solo show at the Castle so I had wanted him to win. There is a vast array of different artists on show this year and me and Calvin Sangster had been talking about how we felt like outsiders with the work we submitted. The organizers said they were taking a risk awarding me the Solo Show based on the fact that I've a very small catalogue of work being a recent graduate. I'm glad they did.

What are your plans for your solo show next year?

I've had a few. I don't just want it to be a room with my sculptures in. I'm going to respond very much to the exhibition space. There's a reference to modernist architecture in my work but being surrounded by elements of the 19th Century Castle interior I want to incorporate some of that design into the forms of my new sculptures, it should make for an interesting clash of styles. It's a year away from now, it's a year to make new work and it's a year for many other possible ideas to overcome others. One thing I know is that I will be spending a great deal of time in the exhibition space probably staring at some stonework or the shape of a certain radiator.  

You graduated just a few months ago, how are you finding the transition from university?

Since leaving university I have been about putting all my effort into building a space for the studio group I am part of in the attic of the One Thoresby building. Because of this I haven't found it too difficult really. I've made sure that I've kept up my art practice after graduating to keep myself from sliding out of it. Of course money is a thorn in the side of any art graduate but as long as I can earn enough to keep making new work I'll be content.

How do you think this opportunity will further your career?

I guess we'll have to see what new work I make first; it could be the end of it! Realistically I'm not expecting truck-loads of offers to come flooding through my door because of this one great opportunity so in the year to come I'll be working just as hard to submit work for other exhibitions and open shows. Having the Castle Solo on my CV certainly won't hurt though, it's the biggest thing that's happened to me and I plan to make the most of it. There's going to be a lot of work ready for the show by this time next year, it's an opportunity to go bigger. I'm nervous and excited already. 

[1] In order mentioned: ‘Magic Monkey’ Simon Raven, ‘A N I D E A O F W O O D / (D I S S O L V E D, P R E S S E D; B A T H E D I N L I G H T A N D W A R M T H)‘ Calvin Sangster and ‘The Twins’ Pamina Stewarts.

Full list of prize winners:

Nick Hedderly won the Tarpey Gallery Prize (a solo exhibition at the Tarpey Gallery in Castle Donington)  

George Hardy won the George Thornton Prize for Recent Graduates (George Thornton selected an artist who has graduated in the last 3 years, for an exclusive 6 months representation by his gallery)

Paul Crook won The Ian Robinson Prize - a £200 cash prize - awarded by this company who specialise in lettering and graphics for exhibition and display

Serena Smith won The John E Wright Prize - £200 worth of John E Wright goods (fine art and graphic materials or services, printing) 

John Marsden won The People's Panel Prize* - £200 cash award and invitation to meet the panel to talk about their work

Sarah Turner won the Design Factory Prize - a year's free membership of Design Factory

Satta Hashem won the New Art Exchange Prize of a solo exhibition at New Art Exchange

Alex Pain won the Castle Prize, of a solo exhibition at Nottingham Castle

The 4 runner-up prizes of £250 went to:

Jackie Berridge 

Mirela Bistran 

Trish Evans 

Paul Newman 

And the grand cash prize of £1,500 went to: Frank Kent