Open Canvas is “an exciting open exhibition of modern and contemporary fine artists from around the UK displaying an eclectic collection of artwork including fine arts, jewellrey and sculpture” which sounds perfectly fine and normal except it takes place at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre.
Now this is either an inspired move to bring art to the masses or it’s something… else. I once worked in the warehouse of a “fine art” company who sold limited edition prints to collectors and was struck by how dull and predictable most of the work was – essentially selling greetings card aesthetics with a high price tag. Nothing wrong with that of course but it showed me how flexible the term fine art is.
But I can’t judge this. For a start I’ve never been to Merry Hill so I’ve no idea what environment this is going to be held in. They promise “an average weekend footfall of 250,000 people” which is pretty impressive assuming they all go past your work and there has been a trend towards holding these sorts of large scale events in shopping centres of late.
The exhibition takes place over the weekend of Feb 9-10th 2008. Exhibition space costs £300 (with a 10% discount if you book before Sep 14th) and they take a 10% discount on sales, which are dealt with completely by them. Sharing space and spreading the cost is also an option. Full details are here along with contact details if you have questions.