More than 20 artists from across the East Midlands are celebrating their success at Leicester’s Open exhibition.
The annual exhibition recognises the talent of local artists of all ages, with prizes awarded to the paintings, sculptures, textiles, prints and photographs that have been selected by a panel of judges, with the awards generously supported by local sponsors.
Amongst the winners was Susan Isaac, who wins this year’s Attenborough Prize.
Picture credit: Leicester City Council
Landscape artist Susan won the prestigious prize for her work Balance and Counterbalance (mixed media on canvas).
It’s the second time that Newark-based Susan has won The Attenborough Prize, having previously won it in 2022.
“I was astonished and absolutely delighted to be presented with the Attenborough Prize,” she said.
“I am so grateful to the selectors and judges and everyone involved in putting on this wonderful annual exhibition – one that I’ve been pleased to be involved with since first applying in 2015.
“Balance and Counterbalance emerged from a recent visit to Blaenavon Ironworks, now part of a World Heritage Site and close to my late father’s coal-mining family home in nearby Llanbradach.
“The painting depicts a tower for a water balanced lift, used to convey raw materials and pig iron between the different levels of the site. I am always mindful, when visiting such sites, of a strong sense of the wounds inflicted on the land as well as on the iron workers and the miners who inhabited the communities here, both above and below ground, and of the power of the natural world to restore some kind of equilibrium.”
Jewellery designer Christine Pearson – who’s based in Leicester – won the Leicester Museums & Galleries’ Development Trust Prize (adult category) for Shell Collection – a wooden box containing10 kiln-fired enamel on copper brooches.
Describing the work, Christine said it depicted “fantasmagorical (sic) creatures from the little-known oceans surrounding the ancient seaport of Leicester.”
Writing on Facebook, she added: “I’m so thrilled to have won the Leicester Museums and Galleries’ Trust Prize at the Leicester Open exhibition.
“My box of enamelled shells was inspired from years of looking at Victorian collections in museums and old houses, and childhood memories of my Grandad’s shell collection, which he kept in a home-made cardboard box.”
The other winners in the adult category were as follows:
Art House award: Carol Pairaudeau for Type/Write
CVAN East Midlands award: Sarah Mason for A Labradoodle’s Lazy Afternoon
LCB Depot awards: Moya Acton for Nocturn, Katie Richards for Bernadette, Emma Peers for What’s Your Thread Length?
Leicester Gallery (De Montfort University) award: Emma Peers for What’s Your Thread Length?
Leicester Print Workshop award: Katerina Luchkova for Reflections of the City
Phoenix award: Klara Simandi for Textile Flowers
In the young people’s category, the Attenborough awards were presented to Hattie Weller (aged 18) for The Brutality of Life – a collection of clay pieces; Mahi Ghait (aged 15) for Meadow (acrylic painted paper on canvas); Lewis Holmes (aged 9), for Look Closer (acrylic paint on canvas, which comes with its own magnifying glass).
Other winners in the young people’s category were:
Arch Creative award: Tom Hudson for Waiting
Art House award: Toby Cross for Phonebox
Curve award: Elina Roman for Plastic Island
De Montfort Hall award: Nada Rhimin for Dance Dance Dance
Leicester Lo-Fi Photography award: Anfisa Denysenko for Architectural Composition
Leicester Print Workshop award: Henry Dampney for Black and White
Phoenix awards: Oriel Birks for A Little Owl Looks; Ayah Riyaazi for Self Portrait
Soft Touch Arts award: Lina Rehab for Afternoon Repose
Leicester Museums & Galleries Development Trust awards: Tom Hudson for Waiting (16-18 category); Oriel Birks for A Little Owl Looks (11-15 category); Vincent Parker for Arc de Triomphe (5-10 category).
Open: The People’s Exhibition features works by more than 200 local artists and makers – from complete beginners to seasoned professionals.
All the paintings, sculptures, textiles, prints and photographs on display have been created by artists aged 19 and over who live or study in Leicester, Leicestershire, Rutland, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire or Northamptonshire.
Work by young artists aged five to 18 is also on display, with a number of schools in the region also participating.
The Open exhibition at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery runs until Friday 31 January 2025.
Admission is free of charge.
