The London Open 2012

The London Open
4 July – 14 September 2012, Galleries 1, 8 and Victor Petitgas Gallery (Gallery 9)



The Whitechapel Gallery calls for all artists aged 26 or over living and working in London to enter The London Open, the Gallery’s triennial open submission exhibition. Providing a snapshot of art now, the exhibition aims to showcase the most dynamic and engaging work being made across the capital to an international audience in 2012.

The London Open offers a timely opportunity to see the latest developments and key emerging trends in contemporary art. Selected from open submissions, all of the works will have been made since 2000.

A panel of leading art experts will select work by both new and more established artists. The panel includes writer and critic Patricia Bickers, artist Rodney Graham, collector Jack Kirkland, curator Marta Kuzma and Whitechapel Gallery curator Kirsty Ogg.

2012 marks the 80th anniversary of the Gallery’s open submission exhibition which started in 1932 as the East End Academy ‘for all artists living or working East of the famous Aldgate Pump’. It later became the Whitechapel Open, and showcased artists early in their careers such as Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie, Cornelia Parker, Grayson Perry, Bob & Roberta Smith, Richard Wentworth and Rachel Whiteread. For 2012 and beyond the Gallery is expanding the reach of the exhibition to artists London-wide to recognise the Gallery’s cultural role in the city.

The Whitechapel Gallery is ‘the artist’s gallery for everyone’ and is free and open all year round. For over a century the Gallery has premiered world-class artists from modern masters such as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Frida Kahlo to contemporaries such as Sophie Calle, Lucien Freud, Gilbert & George and Mark Wallinger. The Gallery is a touchstone for contemporary art internationally and plays a central role in London’s cultural landscape, with The London Open continuing this tradition by providing a platform for artists living and working in one of the most diverse cultural centres in the world in 2012 to show their work.

Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director, Whitechapel Gallery, said, ‘There has never been a more exciting time to be an artist in London. It feels like Paris at the turn of the 20th century or New York in the 1980s – a nexus of cultural creativity. We are throwing open the doors of our historic institution to all artists creating work in the capital, as the world comes to our doorstep in 2012. I look forward to seeing major works by modern masters alongside the next generation of leading international artists.’

The London Open is open for submissions from 3 October – 25 November 2011 at thelondonopen.org. The exhibition will be held at the Whitechapel Gallery from 4 July – 14 September 2012.

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