Stars come out for opening of major Sussex art exhibition in Brighton

L-R Steve Norman from Spandau Ballet and Coronation Street's Brian Capron - pic by Stephen D Lawrence, Southern News and Pictures Ltd

A major new art exhibition has opened in Sussex with a star-studded private view event attended by Alison Moyet, Coronation Street’s Brian Capron and Spandau Ballet’s Steve Norman amongst 200 others.

Director Jason Edge said: “The Sussex Contemporary is the UK’s largest exhibition of Sussex art and artists and is taking place at the i360 on Brighton seafront until October 22 2022. The 146 artworks included in the exhibition were chosen by an independent judging panel from over 640 submissions from Sussex artists. The judges were led by Dinah Casson, designer and founder of Casson Mann, and include Chris Kendall – collector and founder of Hidden Gallery group, Alex Leith – art journalist and editor of ROSA magazine and, Julian Bell – internationally renowned painter, author, critic and lecturer.

“The judges not only selected which artworks made it into the exhibition, but they also had the difficult task of deciding who won three of the four prizes on offer. The fourth will be decided by a public vote.

“The Creative Pod Prize was awarded to Roger Adams for his painting Family Sunday Lunch and the Seawhite Prize went to Steve Dodd’s painting, The Last Brownie. The third prize awarded went to Alistair Beckett for his photograph Cloudrunner. The exhibition is free to enter, and visitors are encouraged to vote for their favourite to determine the winner of The People’s Choice Prize which will be announced after the exhibition closes.”

The exhibition is the brainchild of co-founders Jason Edge and Joanna Myles who is a Sussex artist who appeared on Sky Arts’ Landscape Artist of the Year in 2021. The pair wanted to create an opportunity to showcase the county’s creative talent.

“It can be almost impossible for new and early-career artists to show their work in a professional exhibition” Joanna said. “We wanted to create a platform for new, emerging and established Sussex talent to exhibit their work and promote Sussex as a destination for art tourism.”

Jason added: “We want to promote contemporary artistic excellence and connect Sussex artists with art collectors and art lovers. We are passionate about putting Sussex firmly on the art-world map”

The exhibition is sponsored by Mayo Wynne Baxter and is open every day to 22nd October. All the work is available for sale, and a percentage of the proceeds is being donated to Table Talk Foundation, a charity that supports food education and the hospitality sector in Sussex.

The exhibition is already drawing visitors from London and across the South East. Jason added: “The Sussex Contemporary is the first exhibition of its kind to celebrate Sussex creativity. The exhibition is expected to be seen by up to 16,000 visitors over two weeks. Table Talk Foundation raises funds to support food education in Sussex for the next generation, and to support our local hospitality industry. Table Talk Foundation are building a training kitchen at Plumpton College and have employed a teaching chef to deliver food education to local schools.”