Exeter Contemporary Open

11 Sep – 01 Nov

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION 

Exeter Contemporary Open is an annual open submission exhibition, established in 2006 and hosted by Exeter Phoenix, a busy, multi-artform venue and contemporary art space situated in Exeter’s historic city centre. The exhibition aims to provide an important national platform for contemporary visual art with an emphasis on supporting emerging talent alongside more established artists.  

SUBMISSIONS OPEN ON WED 01 APRIL 2025

Find out more and apply here

SELECTION PANEL

Harriet Cooper

Harriet Cooper is a curator from Manchester who has recently been appointed Director of The Burton at Bideford Art Gallery and Museum. She developed her practice working with organisations including Jerwood Arts, UAL Art Collection, Firstsite, the British Council, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Tate Liverpool. Her recent research and projects have focused on early-career artists and commissioning. Harriet is a member of the Arts Council Collection Acquisitions Committee 2022-2025 and Project Director for touring exhibition Jerwood Survey III.

Remi Rana Allen

Remi Rana Allen is a British South Asian artist, educator, and researcher based in London. With a background in graphic design and fine art printmaking, she holds an MPhil and has completed a Practice-Based PhD at Chelsea College of Art. Remi’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is the founder of BL&ME – Brown Leaders & Makers Exist – a research hub advocating for artists of the global ethnic majority. She teaches Fine Art at Chelsea and Camberwell, serves as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Nairobi, and collaborates on transnational projects through TrAIN. Her solo touring exhibition, Swan Song: sing her to me, appeared at Exeter Phoenix in 2024.

Matt Burrows

Matt is the Curator and Gallery Manager at the Exeter Contemporary Open host venue Exeter Phoenix, a multi-artform contemporary arts venue in Devon, UK that specialises in working with emerging and mid-career artists. He has over 30 years’ experience working with contemporary art in project management, exhibition making and curating roles, across commercial, public and community settings, alongside working on a variety of freelance consultancy projects, mentoring and lecturing roles.

AWARDS

Selected artists will be eligible for the following awards. 

  • £1,000 Overall Award  

  • £500 Additional Award 

  • £200 Audience Choice Award 

 The judging panel will select awards once the exhibition has been installed and these will be announced/presented on the opening night. The Audience Choice award will be announced in the final week of the exhibition, as voted for by the visiting public.  

SPONSORS