Accepted for Rugby Open 2020!

My print, “Love in an Age of Pestilence: Minuet” has been accepted for the Rugby Open exhibition. Further lockdowns notwithstanding, it should now open on 11th December and carry on to 23rd January. You can find the original post about this print here.

I quite like entering these competitive exhibitions. I find having a target to aim for concentrates the mind. Though I must admit I get quite antsy waiting for the decision.

I wanted to address the whole covid/lockdown/distance thing and felt that now was the time to do it. To put up or shut up, as it were. I do feel I’ve got it out of my system in this print and the other two that didn't get accepted (here and here). So I hope I can now focus on other things.

I’m glad the judges picked this one. It’s very much an antidote to my print “Purgatory” that got accepted for the Coventry Open in the immediately pre-covid era. Back then I seemed to tap into a level of social alienation that I have increasingly felt needs challenging.

Hell is not other people. No. Not even those people. We need to puncture our bubbles and dance with people who are not like us at all. This is how we grow. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about.