CCA summer exhibition goes ahead, in spite of restrictions

Annual showcase of amateur and professional local art opens in Hill Street Gallery. By Gill Kay

WHILE the coronavirus crisis has resulted in many local events being cancelled, the Jersey Summer Exhibition officially opened on Friday as planned – albeit under restrictions. Held at CCA Galleries in Hill Street, the annual exhibition, which is sponsored by TEAM Asset Management, has seen more than 200 works submitted by 90 different artists.

Around 40 visitors attended the opening event and four pieces were sold. As always, the exhibition features a wide range of styles, from painting and print to drawing, sculpture, ceramics, photography and film.

This is the fourth year of the exhibition, which was modelled on the Royal Academy’s famous Summer Exhibition in Piccadilly and works with a panel of Royal Academicians and international artists to select and curate a selling exhibition of local work in the St Helier gallery.

The exhibition provides local amateur and professional artists the opportunity to exhibit side by side. Having work professionally hung, lit and curated at the gallery has helped launch the careers of promising Jersey artists, as well as enforcing that of those already established.

All those selected in the exhibition are eligible for the Jersey Summer Prize, which offers the successful artist the chance to show work at the gallery in their own right. Last year it was won by ceramicist Lindsay Rutter, who is currently working on a new body of pieces to exhibit with CCA early next year with the support of ArtHouse Jersey.

The Jersey Summer Prize will be judged in the next two weeks and the Rural Landscape Award later this week. Award ceremonies for both prizes will take place in the gallery next month with live streaming on the gallery’s Instagram and Facebook sites.

This year’s selection panel were artists Paul Huxley RA and Dan Baldwin, gallery director Sasha Gibb and Gillian Duke, managing director of Worton Hall Studios and CCA Galleries International.

It is possible to view the exhibition by appointment only and for more details, or to book a private viewing, email sasha.gibb@ccagalleriesinternational.com

Click here to view the catalogue.