This is a Wex-Art Festival open call group exhibition for artists working in the South East region, with a particular focus on County Wexford. The aim of the exhibition is to give artists a platform to showcase their work during the arts festival, which runs alongside Wexford Festival Opera.
The theme of the exhibition is ‘Art as Alchemy’.
Samhain marks the end of one season and the beginning of the next; winter. A time of reflection, metabolising and change. This exhibition takes place during this moment of turning.
Art practice shares in the rhythmic cycles of nature. It too holds the power of transformation and renewal. Through the slow labour of attention, artists alchemise thoughts, ideas and experiences into something new and tangible. They have the power to give ideas new shape and form. To make the interior exterior.
This exhibition invites artists whose work embodies this process, artworks that move within these cycles. Artists who draw inspiration from research, from place, from season, from the particular quality of this time of year. Or work that has been made in or through a period of transformation.
The exhibition takes place in the West Gate Heritage Centre which holds Wexford’s last remaining medieval gateway. Like Samhain, the space is a passage between what once was and what now is…
To submit an application, please email the required information and images to wexfestartists@gmail.com with the subject line: Art as Alchemy.
The deadline for applications is 12pm on Monday, 17th August.
Shannon Carroll is a curator and art historian with an interest in place and ecological thinking. Her approach to curating is grounded in situated practice, developing programmes through dialogue with artists, ongoing research and responsiveness to local context. With over eight years’ experience working across art and cultural institutions in Ireland, she has a track record curating exhibitions, commissioning artwork, organising events and writing about art.
APPLICATION DETAILS
- Submit no more than six examples of works, either in Jpeg format (with a maximum file size 3MB) or in the case of films or audio work, links to previous projects.
- Please save each JPEG image with the following details:
Artist’s Name_Title_Medium_Dimensions_Year;
- Provide one PDF document containing your CV, artist statement and a brief description on each work and how they meet the theme.
SUBMISSION NOTES
- All artworks by the time of exhibition must be ready to hang, and in the case of sculpture or installation, must be appropriately ready to display.
- We want this open call to be as accessible as possible. If you have any access needs or would like support with your application, please reach out and we’ll do our best to help.
CRITERIA
The exhibition is aimed at artists working in the South East region, with a particular focus on County Wexford, whose work responds to the theme. We are eager to showcase the work of artists who have not previously exhibited as part of the Wex-Art Festival, and will give such artists priority. The selection of work will be based on its relevance to the theme and in consideration of the overall aesthetic of the group exhibition.
