9th Open Art Exhibition

The Grosvenor Museum's 9th Open Art Exhibition 2011

The Grosvenor Museum’s 9th Open Art Exhibition presented the best in contemporary art from the region. It provided a diverse and stimulating exhibition for the public, vividly demonstrating the great wealth of artistic talent in the area.

Selected from 537 works of art entered in open competition by 275 artists, the exhibition presented a kaleidoscope of colours and styles, a wide range of techniques and materials, and a rich variety of subjects and moods.

Four prizes were awarded. The First Prize of £1,000 went to Marcus Usherwood of Broughton for his oil painting ‘Agnus Dei’. Marcus explained: “I was besought by God to produce a work that abundantly expressed the indiscriminate love of Jesus for humanity. In this case that love is especially personified towards a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust.”

The Second Prize of £500 was won by Neil Morris and Tracey Brown of Chester for “Ghost”, a work combining screenprint, drawing and embroidery. The artists commented: “The 20th century was full of art works made with a singular vision. In our collaborative pieces such as ‘Ghost’ we are attempting to subdue a sole authorial voice, as with each new mark there are fresh considerations and endless possibilities made available to each of us.”

The Third Prize of £250 was awarded to Zenon Zamojski of Wrexham for ‘Swaledale Sheep’, a drawing in ball point pen which “was inspired by a visit to our friend’s sheep farm on the North Yorkshire moors a few years ago.”

The Peter Oakley Award of £100 went to Anna Ketskemety of Liverpool for her acrylic painting ‘Sleep’. This prize was donated by Cheshire Artists Network in memory of painter and printmaker Peter Oakley, who was a leading member of Cheshire Artists Network from its inception until his death in 2007.

Also Highly Commended were Linda Cloet of Chester, Gareth Davies of Gwynedd, Bob Nancollis of Manchester, Random (an elusive artist nicknamed the ‘Flintshire Banksy’), Collette Rothnie of Conwy, John Whitehill of Stoke-on-Trent, and Jenny Wynne of Wallasey.

The exhibition was selected by Professor Neil Grant, Head of Art & Design at the University of Chester; Adrian Sumner, Creative Economy Officer for Cheshire West and Chester Council; and Peter Boughton, Keeper of Art at Cheshire West Museums.

'Agnus Dei' by Marcus Usherwood First Prize, Marcus Usherwood, 'Agnus Dei'.