Brighton is about to attract its first magnetic art festival. Event organizer and artist Alban Low has over the past two years established smaller exhibitions across the country from Bath to Manchester. With the kind sponsorship of local fine art and antique auctioneers and valuers, Toovey’s, The Brighton Open will be the biggest and most high profile outdoor magnet exhibition undertaken in England (or even the world). In this distinctive exhibition over 200 artists will be participating and 500 magnetic images will be displayed on the seafront of Brighton from May 7th as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival.
The headline artists for this intriguing new event are Chris Kettle, Alban Low, Jane Denman and Natalie Martin. Featured artists are Sarah Young, Gemma Cumming, Amanda Brownridge, Dean Reddick, Stuart Simler, Bryan Benge, Shyama Ruffell, Peter S. Smith, Citizen Skwith and Glyn Walton. But everyone in the city is invited to take part – not just artists, but doodlers, photographers, children, pensioners, schools and whole local communities.
For this show students of the local Varndean School have been invited to participate, keeping the ethos of the Brighton magnet exhibition ‘open’.
Alban says ‘The Brighton Open will conceptually transform the seafront of Brighton into an open-air museum, where viewers are unusually invited to move artworks around and even take their favourite work of art back home with them – for free’. Collectors can then log onto the website address on the magnet to find out more about their new 5cm x 7cm miniature artwork. Visit www.brightonopen.blogspot.com for more information.
