Winners of the Exeter Contemporary Open accept prize money

The winners of the Exeter Contemporary Open were announced last week.

At a private showing in the Exeter Phoenix, artists Rachel Busby, Julie Price and Oliver Tirre were awarded prizes for their work.

An emotional Rachel Busby was presented the £1,000 top prize by Ben de Cruz, managing partner of Haines Watts chartered accountants, who funded the award.

Juile Price and Oliver Tirre each received £250, splitting the £500 additional award as the judges could not decide between the two.

Judges; Kevin Hunt, Lucy Day and Eliza Gluckman from curators Day + Gluckman and the Exeter Phoenix’s Matt Burrows reached their verdict moments before the show began after several hours of discussion.

Liverpool-based artist Kevin Hunt said: “different things happen straight away when you’re in the space when you see how things have been made. It becomes a lot more complicated to choose.”

“Everything in the exhibition has been exquisitely made, they have a level of craftsmanship it was a really difficult choice.” 

Lucy Day said: “we would all career towards one then swerve away. In the end we all chose four and there was a crossover so we ended up with three winners.

“But even within just those three it was very, very tough to pick an outright winner.”

Eliza Gluckman said: “It was good to see such a high proportion of the entrants coming from the region lots of local artists and quite a few from Bristol too.” 

Matt Burrows said:  “it’s been incredibly hard this year [to decide a winner]. We spent a good two hours in intense discussion which is really a sign of high quality the work has been among all 9 artists.

“We had several hundred entrants so it was a really tough job even to whittle it down to these.

“That’s why we made an effort to show more than one work from the artist so you can get a better sense of what they’re doing.”

“Our main sponsors HW have been fantastic supporters of the show since its inception and it’s really great they’ve been so involved and interested and brought along their clients as well.”

Winner Rachel Busby, was overwhelmed at winning the prize tearfully accepting the prize money and calling for a cocktail.

Busby’ paintings are inspired by her early life in rural west Wales and its gloomy winters.

“I was painting from memory of my teenage years and what I thought originally were landscape paintings ended up being interiors where you were always stuck indoors and you could never get out, hence they’re always quite grey and moody because let’s face it that’s how it is.

Winning the award was an emotional moment for Busby who returned to Wales after working in London. 

She said, "I didn’t have feedback.  I felt very isolated but it meant the work was very honest.  I didn’t know what to expect, what people would make of it."

 Her entry comprised two paintings that present interiors looking out into long dark stormy winter months. 

"Going back to Wales I thought that a lot of my work would be landscapes but it ended up as a lot of interiors.  And I think that’s because a lot of time growing up was spent indoors.  I wanted to be honest and show that.  Not that the work was just about me, but for others who share that experience."

“It always used to really annoy me growing up in west Wales looking at the really pretty landscapes they used to sell in shops because that’s not the Wales I know at all. It’s very rough, very mean and very hard.”

Now in its eighth year, the Exeter Contemporary Open is providing an important national platform for contemporary visual artists.

Ben de Cruz, Managing Partner of Haines-Watts said, "The exhibition this year is quite amazing and the overall quality of the work continues to grow. Exeter Contemporary Open has become a major art event in the area and we are delighted to continue to be involved in supporting the arts in the South West.’

The exhibition is now open to the public and invites you to go and vote on your favourite artwork, with winner of the popular vote getting a £200 award.