County artists’ work to go on show (From Witney Gazette)

County artists’ work to go on show

8:46am Friday 11th January 2008 in Headlines By Fran Bardsley

OXFORD'S first completely open art exhibition is set to open its doors to the public tomorrow.

During two submission days in December, artists - some professional, some amateur - queued round the block so their work could go on display at Modern Art Oxford, in Pembroke Street.

More than 500 works, each by different artists working in a wide variety of media, were submitted - so many that organisers had to turn people away before the deadline.

Suzanne Cotter, acting director of Modern Art Oxford, said: "The response has been incredible.

"More than 500 works will be on display in our galleries and we are very excited about the quality and the range of works.

"There's already a fantastic buzz around the show and we're looking forward to the response of visitors over the next five weeks."

Among those who submitted work to the exhibition, whis is supported by The Oxford Times, was artist and teacher Madi Acharya-Baskerville, from Jericho, who created an oil painting of a face on a piece of driftwood, using other found materials.

She said: "I am very excited about being involved and I think it's very exciting because it is an open submission.

"I'm looking forward to how diverse it's going to be."

Ruth Broadbent, 40, the current artist in residence at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, has a piece of work made up of chess pieces wrapped in string, part of a larger project wrapping items in string.

Ms Broadbent, from Banbury, said: "It's quite an unusual idea and I will be interested to see how it works out because it's a bit of a free-for-all.

"It's really great to have the opportunity to be able to exhibit somewhere like Modern Art Oxford because you would not normally get to exhibit work somewhere so high-profile."

Each week, a guest selector will choose their favourites from among the artworks displayed, and their choices will go up in a separate gallery, with the selector hosting a talk to give their reasons.

The first selector will be Blur bassist Alex James, who is Oxford University's department of astrophysics's artist in residence, on Tuesday.

Other selectors will include pupils from Oxford Community School, one of the gallery's partner schools, and artist Janette Parr.

The aim is to stimulate debate about why some people like some art and others do not - and throughout the exhibition, which lasts until Sunday, February 17, visitors will be able to vote for their favourite artwork with the people's favourite being revealed at 10am on Saturday, February 9.

The exhibition will be officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Oxford, John Tanner, tonight at an invitation only-launch party.