Prestigious wildlife art exhibition to go ahead
The Natural Eye, the annual exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA), is set to open at the Mall Galleries in London on Wednesday 28 October, the SWLA has announced.
The exhibition has taken place annually for the past 56 years. However, with the country going into lockdown in spring this year, this 57th show was called into question. Huge efforts by the team at the Mall Galleries throughout the summer ensured that visitors can visit the gallery in safety.
Watching over the city by Kittie Jones SWLA.
Renowned for displaying a wide-ranging collection of exciting and thought-provoking work, the Natural Eye will display the expected variety of media, but without the usual fanfare of the private view and prize-giving ceremonies.
This year the public has found a new deeper appreciation of the natural world and the show reflects an explosion of creativity from artists from around the globe. Many have used lockdown to explore the wildlife in their local areas, so you can expect paintings of wildlife from gardens, parks and so on.
Kittie Jones could walk the short distance from her flat in Edinburgh to Arthur's Seat for a piece of wilderness in her home city.
"During lockdown I spent a lot of time watching a pair of Peregrine Falcons nesting in my local park in Edinburgh," she commented. "The day two large chicks emerged from the hidden nest was a great moment. I wanted to get a sense of the context of the nest site – right in the heart of the city with a busy road underneath and yet most visitors to the area were oblivious to the magnificent birds nesting above them."
Travel restrictions didn't prevent artwork submissions from overseas artists. Among many foreign entries are beautiful sets from Italian Federico Gemma, Hungarian Szabi Kokay and Americans Barry Van Dusen and Ken Januski.
The exhibition also includes the Birdwatch and Swarovski Optik Artist of the Year Award. Chosen by a panel of judges including Peter Antoniou of Swarovski Optik, Birdwatch Editor Rebecca Armstrong and artists Chris Rose and Bruce Pearson, the winning artwork will be revealed in the December issue of Birdwatch (on sale 26 November). The prize is a Swarovski ATS 80 HD spotting scope with 25-50x zoom eyepiece worth £2,430 and a three-year subscription to BirdGuides Bird News Ultimate.
A number of measures are in place to ensure visitors' safety. Tickets need to be booked in advance via the Mall Galleries website. A one-way system is in place and all visitors must observe social-distancing rules and wear a face covering. See the website for further details. For anyone unable to travel, the artworks are also viewable online.
Tickets cost £5 The exhibition runs from 28 October to 8 November. It is open from 11 am to 5 pm, with late opening to 7 pm on 5 November and early closing at 1 pm on the final day.
