A Good Kick Up My Cocky Arse

There is a ‘62 Group’ exhibition coming soon to Farnham. Being a member of said group, I took it for granted that I would be in it. I confidently sashayed to the framer with ‘Jake and Dinos Chapman Have An Idea’ (yes, another prod at the male dominated artworld) the minute I’d cast off. My usual stance is to wait until confirmation before committing to the expense of a frame.

I was rejected.

Seven positives.

1. I got a good kick up my cocky arse. Always good.

2. I was forced (old work wasn’t submittable) to focus. This is the only piece of work I’ve completed in three years. What about last year's Faces? (I hear you cry). Not quite finished yet. 2023’s Faces, then? Not even started. What about that piece in the Royal Academy Summer Show? Made in 2022.

3. I enjoyed the making. The ‘small work’ stipulation proved to be perfectly manageable. I spent Christmas and New Year stitching Ernie Wise’s legs, and enjoyed every minute.

4. I have a new piece of work, framed (not paid for or collected yet, mind) and ready to sell. Well, as soon as I’ve documented the sources.

5. Another artist, hopefully a previous rejectee, has been given a platform. The gallery is small. There is not enough space for everyone. The curators can’t please us all. It can’t always be my turn.

6. I no longer need to take time from my day jobs (I don’t get paid holidays) to deliver, collect work, and pay for train fares to deepest Surrey.

7. It has made me consider, not for the first time, photography. The importance of good photographs was frequently repeated in the instructions. I ignored the advice, blindly doing what I always do, taking snaps with my not-particularly-modern phone.

Joy in the Detail: Small Work from the 62 Group

7th May - 6th September, 2025.

Tuesday - Friday, 10am - 5pm. Saturday, 10am - 4pm.

Crafts Study Centre, Falkner Road, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DS.

Free.

ING Discerning Eye

I’m really pleased to say that Family Affair has been selected for this year’s ING Discerning Eye.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT MY WORK IS ANY BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE’S! It just means that this year (I have submitted work eighteen times, that’s eighteen years, and been accepted thrice) one of the judges liked my work. I won’t find out which judge selected me until the Private View on 16th November*.

The exhibition is six small (the work is small-scale, too) exhibitions in one. Each judge mounts their own show. The panel is always made up of two artists (Chris Levine, Julian Wild), two collectors (Tony Adams, the footballer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins, the singer) and two critics or some-such (Peju Oshin, critic, Eliza Gluckman - Director of the Government Art Collection). I’m betting Chris Lavine selected mine, on account of his portrait of the Queen, but who knows?

Numbers are limited for the PV (my +1 is reserved for my friend Cathy, if she’s available?), but the exhibition is free and runs at the Mall Galleries in London, from 17th - 26th November.

Image: Detail from Family Affair.

*Edit: It was Chris Levine.