SFSA 2022 Painting Open Exhibition

November 22, 2022 Matt Bannister

My 2020 painting ‘Look Both Ways’ will be making its first appearance in public on 1st Dec 2022. Previously only seen online, and on the wall of my studio, you can see it as part of the Second Floor Studios & Artists (SFSA)’s 2022 Painting Open exhibition at the 'no format Gallery'.

**Look Both Ways**. 2020. Acrylic on wood panel. 30.5cm x 30.5cm

The show features the work of 100 artists and is a celebration of painting on a small scale. All works are available to buy.

Open preview night: Thurs 1st Dec. 18:00-20:00

Opening times: 2nd-4th Dec, 7th-11th Dec 13:00-18:00

Studio NF01, Casting House, Moulding Lane (off Arklow Road), Deptford, London SE14 6BN. 8 minutes walk from New Cross station.

ING Discerning Eye Exhibition 2022 - the show

November 14, 2022 Matt Bannister

A trip out to a packed artists’ preview night at The Mall Galleries was a fun affair. I discovered who had selected my paintings, saw many pieces of great work by others and found an opportunity for some goofy posing to the camera.

Mini Croydon 3 - selected by Gurinder Chadha. 🔴 SOLD

Mini Croydon 2 - selected by Kate Enters. 🔴 SOLD

Mini Croydon 4 - selected by Kate Enters. 🔴 SOLD

Mini Croydon 3 was chosen by film director Gurinder Chada. Mini Croydon 2 and Mini Croydon 4 were chosen by Kate Enters, director of ArtCan. The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition runs from 11th - 20th of November 2022 and will be available to view online until 31st December 2022. The works of all the artists are available to buy.

It’s hard to pose with your paintings when they are so small!

I also had a nice preview piece about the exhibition from local Croydon publication Inside Croydon.

ING Discerning Eye Exhibition 2022 selection

October 10, 2022 Matt Bannister

I'm happy to say that I've had three of my little paintings chosen for the 2022 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition. Each one is about 12.5 cm square in a frame so very compact. It runs from 11th-20th November at The Mall Galleries, London. More links and pics to follow, I expect.

“The 2022 ING Discerning Eye received close to 7,500 entries from more artists than ever before. The quantity and quality of submissions was outstanding, and yours caught the eye of our selectors to be exhibited at the Mall Galleries in November. Congratulations on this incredible achievement!”

— ING Discerning Eye Exhibition

The paintings selected for the exhibition are Mini Croydon 2, Mini Croydon 3 and Mini Croydon 4.

Spread - An Exhibition of Work by Turf Studio Members

May 4, 2022 Matt Bannister

A poster advertising the art exhibition 'Spread'. Spread is written in a pale yellow and seems to have been poured across the poster.

‘Spread’ - An exhibition of work by Turf Studio members runs from 25th-28th May 2022 in the Turf Project Space (part of Turf Projects, 46-47 Trinity Court, Whitgift Centre, Croydon, CR0 1UQ). Opening times: 11am-5pm. Closing event Saturday 28th May: 2pm-5pm.

Featuring the work of Matt Bannister, Asha Fontenelle, Flora Hunt, Salina Jane, Desilver Johnson, Jhinuk Sarkar, Divya Sharma, Yolanda Shields, Katherine Smith, Miguel Sopena, Amy J Wilson and Daisy Young.

Audio description of the exhibition ‘Spread’ at the Turf Project Space.

Painting by Matt Bannister of a sunset through Winter trees. In the foreground are two structures of wood with a glowing sphere of light between them. — ‘Placeholder’, 2022. By Matt Bannister. Acrylic and graphite on canvas. Unframed dimensions: 40cm x 50cm.

detail 1

detail 2

detail 3

I’ve got some thoughts about the work here. It’s more of a stream of notes, really, and I don’t want to spell it all out but it might give you an idea of my approach to creating the final painting:

PLACEHOLDER
The beauty of a sunset. The silhouettes of bare trees like nature’s own charcoal drawings. Space. Energy. Life. The dramatic and otherworldly effects of sunsets that still stun me. Time. Wonder from the familiar - a theatrical dusk in a local park. The wooden cube structures as figures, as 3D drawings, as illustrations of fragile human endeavour. As wild growth contained. Dead wood. Living trees. The handmade nature of all human efforts. Straight lines never stay straight. Creating a new scene from my thoughts. Temporary. Humans. Games. Stillness. Potential. Interaction. Influences - Magritte, Victor Willing, Cornelia Parker.

ING Discerning Eye Exhibition 2020

November 25, 2020 Matt Bannister

Check Your Travel_Matt Bannister Winner_LI.png

I'm so pleased to announce that my painting 'Check Your Travel' has been awarded the ING Discerning Eye Cityscape Prize as part of the 2020 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition.

It's the first time I've entered the open call and I made the selection with it and another painting entitled ‘Look Both Ways’. Normally at the Mall Galleries, this year the show is online, due to our old friend Covid-19. To view the whole ING Discerning Eye 2020 Exhibition online (to buy these works and art from many other artists) click here. Thanks to all the judges involved, but especially to David Remfry RA and Mervyn Metcalf for selecting my works to be shown in their curated areas of the exhibition.

Check Your Travel

(detail) 1

(detail) 2

(detail) 3

The scenes I’ve painted are both informed by the view from the twelfth floor of the iconic tower of No.1 Croydon, south London (also known by many other names: NLA Tower, The 50p Building, The Thru’penny bit Building). Artworks tend to show the architecture of this Croydon landmark itself, but I thought that the view of the streets below more interesting in this case.

I love the riot of marks, shapes and colours that are drawn across London’s roads, always with a purpose to inform, warn or highlight things but I don’t think people appreciate their aesthetic qualities too. There are probably more litres of paint poured and drawn across the tarmac that any artist would use in a lifetime. To accompany the barriers and markings on the street, there are often instructions telling people what to do (in a variety of helpful but serious tones of voice).

In a world where the delivery of data and information is seemingly never ending, even the physical spaces we travel through in cities, and walk on, can contain commands or points of information for us.

To go straight to my artworks in the exhibition, use these two links: Check Your Travel and Look Both Ways.

To view the pieces in the context of each of the selectors’ rooms, alongside their other chosen artists, click on either David Remfry RA or Mervyn Metcalf.

“The ING Discerning Eye is an annual show of small-scale artworks renowned for its commitment to championing emerging artists, its democratic selection process, and its unique curatorial approach.

A panel of six prominent figures from the art world - two artists, two collectors and two critics - select small artworks in any medium for the annual exhibition, curating six shows within the whole.

This year, the exhibited artworks were selected by artists Dale Lewis and David Remfry RA, collectors Beverley Knight MBE and Mervyn Metcalf, as well as critics Jo Baring and Tabish Khan.

For the first time in its history, the exhibition will be open online for six weeks on www.ingdeexhibition.org, running until Christmas and the New Year, and providing the perfect opportunity to share the gift of art with friends and family or treat yourself to a new piece of artwork for the holidays. ”

— http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-news/post/ing-discerning-eye-2020-exhibition/