Etsy London: OPEN – the first exhibition of UK artists

If you’re a fan of the creative haven Etsy and art – carry on reading: Etsy soon will be launching OPEN, the first exhibition of UK artists on Etsy.com which will be held in London between October 17th – 19th. Celebrating London Art Month, online marketplace Etsy.com will present the very first art exhibition of UK artists. The exhibition entitled OPEN will feature outstanding contemporary work by 15 UK artists, especially selected to showcase the diverse range of artistic styles, practices and subjects found on Etsy.

The exhibition takes place at 5th Base Gallery on Heneage Street, open from Friday 10am – 8pm, Saturday 11am – 6pm and Sunday 11am – 3pm). The fifteen artists exhibiting were selected from an application call open to any artist working in the UK who has a shop on Etsy where they sell their work. Over 600 artists applied, from which a selection panel of three curators chose the fifteen who represented the very best of art on Etsy.

Curated by Matt Roberts from a-n, Lena Nix from Space Studios and Katherine Mellor, a freelance art consultant who has curated for Unilever and the Government Art Collection, the exhibition explores the wonderfully eclectic nature of art produced by Etsy.com’s creative community. The participating artists represent a broad geographic spread, with exhibitors from Shetland in Scotland to Cornwall in the final line up. For many of the artists, this will be the first time their work is exhibited in London.

As well as showcasing the talented artists selling on Etsy.com, the exhibition aims to celebrate the accessibility of original art to be found on the website. Visitors will be able to buy a ticket to the ‘art tombola’ for £10, which will get them a lucky dip limited edition art print from one of the exhibitors at the show. In addition to the private view, there will be public events for budding collectors taking place throughout the exhibition including a talk from curator Katherine Mellor on Friday October 17th at 4pm, ‘How to start your art collection’ and a ‘Meet the artists’ session on Saturday October 18th from 11am to 3pm.

The participating artists are; Kristi Cumming, Lucy Pass, Timothy Gent, Ben Lewis Giles, Laura Bird, Vanessa Donnelly, Maya Mladenovic, William White, Lou Taylor, Kitty Cooper, James Brown, Midori Takaki, Becci Maryanne, Alice Duck and Kethi Copeland. With over 1 million active shops and 26 million items live on the marketplace, Etsy is increasingly becoming an important online resource for artists wanting to sell their art in the UK. This exhibition represents the first UK exhibition showcasing artists who sell on Etsy.com

Lina Ayers

Find further information on the artists and their work on the Etsy UK blog here.