ING Discerning Eye Annual Exhibition 2022

This post is about the call for entries for the 2022 Exhibition to be held at the Mall Galleries in November – and whats involved in submitting an entry or six!

The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition

ING Discerning Eye Annual Exhibition 2022
ING Discerning Eye 2021: View of the West Gallery

Six Selectors

Once a year they invite different people – two artists, two collectors and two critics / people who have art-related occupations to select artwork to hang in the exhibition.

Hence it’s not an open exhibition where you have to please all the Jury of Selectors – you only need to please one!

The selectors this year are:

  • David Ferry – Printmaker
  • Ansel Krut – Painter
  • Gurinder Chadha – Film Director
  • Kate Enters – Director of Artcan
  • Aindrea Emelife – Curator and Writer
  • Alison Bevan Director of the Royal West of England Academy

The selectors:

  • invite artists they know or whose work they admire 
  • select artwork submitted via the open entry

Small Works

The other aspect which is unique is that this is an exhibition about small artworks. Details below of what that means

Prizes

There are a range of prizes and in this era of disappearing art competitions, it’s worth noting that some are valuable. 

  • ING Purchase Prize* – £5000
  • The Discerning Eye Founder’s Purchase Prize** – In honour of Michael Reynold’s £2500
  • The Discerning Eye Chairman’s Purchase Prize** – £1000
  • The Mervyn Metcalf Purchase Prize* – £500
  • Discerning Eye Sculpture and 3D Work Prize** – £250
  • Discerning Eye Original Print Prize** – £250
  • Discerning Eye Cityscape Prize** – £250
  • Discerning Eye Landscape Prize** – £250
  • Discerning Eye Portrait Prize** – £250
  • Regional Prizes** – There will be up to 8 prizes of £250 each awarded to an outstanding entry from the national regions
  • Parker Harris Mentoring Prize*: Parker Harris will give a one-to-one mentoring session covering all aspects of professional development to a selected artist

NOTE:

* These prizes are selected by the individual prize givers, not the selectors.
**These prizes are selected by members of the Discerning Eye Educational Board, not the selectors.
ING Discerning Eye 2021: North Gallery

The Exhibition 2022

The exhibition is to be held at the Mall Galleries in central London – from the 11th – 20th November 2022

The website also has a Virtual Exhibition of the artwork in the exhibition.

However……

This year I have an ALERT for all artists wishing to submit work – which I summed up in a facebook post last year. Nobody has written to me to say it’s a “return to normal” hence why I’m raising this issue here.

I am giving the organisers the benefit of the doubt and assuming that last year this was an effort to reduce costs given there was no knowing whether the exhibition might have to be cancelled. 

However… it was, in my opinion, an absolutely ludicrous idea given that galleries do not have effective broadband reception throughout the galleries and not everybody likes to open their phone (and security!) to open access wifi!!! 

  • proper labels – stating names, titles, media and price
  • a proper catalogue – including the same data which interested purchasers can consult and make notes as they go round.

I’m optimistic we’ve had a return to normal as the call for entries indicates the following

All exhibiting artists will be included in a fully illustrated print catalogue.

If you have not submitted before – or if you have submitted but not been selected, you can read more about past exhibitions and see the sort of artwork this exhibition attracts:

Welcome to The Discerning Eye Archives, here you can browse nearly 30 years of works exhibited annually. To start your search either select a year to view a full overview, or use the search bar to lookup particular artists, work titles or selectors.

The archive consists of nearly 15,000 selections, over the years we have expanded the data we store on individual works to include images, dimensions etc. However some earlier years may not have this information available.

Oddly it does NOT include images for the 2021 exhibition!!

Call for Entries: ING Discerning Eye 2022

Key Dates and Facts

  • open to artists born or resident in the UK only 
  • All works must be for sale.
  • All works must be within the maximum size limit of 20 inches (50cm) including frame.
  • You can enter up to six artworks
  • The deadline for the call for entries for the ING Discerning Eye in 2022 is Tuesday 30 August 2022
  • Selected artwork ONLY can be submitted to 
    • the FBA Offices at Carlton House Terrace on Friday 4 or Saturday 5 November from 9am – 5pm.
    • a regional collection point on an earlier date (dates yet to be announced)
  • The cost to enter:
    • £15 per artwork for artworks 1 and 2 
    • £10 per artwork for artworks 3-6
    • Total cost to enter 6 artworks = £70
  • Collection of UNSOLD artwork: on Wednesday 23 November or Thursday 24 November from 9am-5pm at 17 Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5BD 

How to Enter | What you need to know

READ CAREFULLY the Rules and Guidelines for the Ing Discerning Eye Open Entry 2022

  • open to artists born or resident in the UK only 
  • All works must be for sale.
  • All works must be within the maximum size limit of 20 inches (50cm) including frame.
  • all artwork must be an original creation by the artist. This usually means THAT 
    • the work has not been copied from another artwork or photograph.
    • the artist must be able to assert copyright (i.e. the work is not derivative)
  • Painting, prints (including prints from i-pad drawings), drawing, photography and sculpture are all accepted. 
  • All works on paper must be securely framed. Metal frames and glazed works with unprotected glass edges are all inadmissible. Frames and mounts of unusual colour, size or design may prejudice the selectors’ judgement.
  • All entries must be entered online 
    • in the form of digital images. 
    • all images are a maximum of 1MB. JPEG, TIFF and PNG files are all acceptable
    • using the following information: Title, Medium, Year, Dimensions and Price.
  • ALL entries must use the Online Entry Form 
  • Labels for selected artwork can be downloaded from the website

You will be notified of the results of the selection via email by the 30 September 2022 There is no discussion about decisions made – and you don’t receive any feedback.

More about the ING Discerning Eye PRIZE / Exhibitions

The Discerning Eye website maintains an archive.
The following are all posts about the ING Discerning Eye competition/exhibition on Making A Mark over the last 14 years.

2021

2020
2019

There is no statement in the catalogue or on the website about how many artists and how many works are from the open entry – making it impossible to know whether this is a juried exhibition worth entering.

2018

In the 2018 exhibition 78% of the artists and 63% of the works are from the open submission. Painting and drawing make up over 47% of the works, mixed media and sculpture about 30%, printmaking about 13%, and photography and film about 10% this year.

2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008