Priceless

Studio and Associate Artists of Magdalen Road Studios have come together for this exhibition, ‘Priceless’. The diverse subjects and media reflect the artists’ individual practices and interests but the pieces have been carefully chosen to reflect the title of the exhibition.

The theme or title was open to interpretation. Some work has been included because it is personally meaningful or too precious to sell. Other work may have been kept for years and not sold because it resonates in a particular way or represents a change in practice. The title also allowed for work that can be understood as non-commercial because it is in an unconventional or ephemeral format.

Any work that an artist makes can be looked upon as a ‘signpost’ of an artistic journey, regardless of whether it has been made today or a decade ago. In this way a work is never conclusive. It may be something left unfinished, a dead-end or the pointer towards the next step. Works that are kept or remembered might hold memories of personal history, or show the surprising outcome of using a new material. Often they are special because they are symbolic of a long struggle or because they unexpectedly revealed a new way of seeing. Perhaps no work is ever priceless because the priorities and ideas that artists have change over time. Money is exchanged for art in auction houses, exhibitions and commissions all over the world but can art, as the representation of human spirit, be seen as a product?

The artists participating are:

Betsy Tyler Bell

John Blythe

Marie Darkins

Julian Dourado

Juliet Eccles

Helen Granly

Anne Griffiths

Elaine Kazimierczuk

Xenia Kravchenko

Kubra Mujde

Andy Page

Catalina Renjifo

Cally Shadbolt