Lido Open 2024 Exhibition - 76 Artists selected by judges
Gallery owner Kristen Healy and guest judge Vincent Hawkins will announce the 2024 Open’s winner
The Lido Stores gallery on Ethelbert Terrace, Margate, has been delivering a programme of contemporary art exhibitions from emerging and established artists since opening in 2021.
This is the fourth annual open call, which received more than 1,200 submissions from across the UK and Ireland, following the success of the 2023 Open, which received over 750 entries.
The exhibition of 76 selected artists will run from Wednesday, 18th September to Saturday, 5 October 2024.
A private view will be held on Saturday, 21 September, 7-9pm when gallery owner Kristen Healy and guest judge Vincent Hawkins will announce the 2024 Open’s winner.
The winning artist will be awarded a solo exhibition at the gallery in summer 2025.
Exhibiting artists
David Abbott / Susan Absolon / Paul Andrews / Julie Annis / Joshua Armitage / Dorota Bouali / Joanne Boyle / Molly Brown / Rae Birch Carter / Ben Coleman / Sarah Crossfield / Gavin Dobson / Isabelle Eberlin / Andrew Ekins / Tracey Emin / Phillip Frankland / Dominique Garraud / Hugh Gillan / Jules Gooris / Helena Gorey / Lesley Greening Lassoff / Rita Fernandez Gutierrez / Adam Hedley / Roland Hicks / Sylvia Hill / Amanda Houchen / Mandy Hudson / Chris Hunt / Nick Ivins / Davina Jackson / Rachel Jordan / Mark Joyce / Ann Kavanagh / Joanna Kidney / Catherine Knight / Lara Kulkarni / James Lawson / Simon Leahy-Clark / Emma Lilly / Jonathan Lloyd / Sarah Lord / Sinead Lucey / Paula MacArthur / Gabriela Max / Stephanie McLaughlin / Donna McLean / Sharon McPhee / Vanessa Mitter / Susan Montgomery / Jane K Morter / Alice Neave / Jon Ridge / Sara Lee Roberts/ Henrietta Roeder / Angela Rumble / Hannah Savage / Clare Scott / Kim Scouller / Nima Shafiani / Adelaide Shalhope / Jack Shearing / Dorry Spikes / Mary Claire Smith / Christine Stark / Sharon Swaine / Florence Taylor / Marcia Teusink / Amanda Thesiger / Gwennan Thomas / Geoff Tibbs / Edit Toaso / Cassie Vaughan / Ally Wallace / Casey Walshe / Orla Whelan / Clare Wilson
The Lido Stores
Gallery owner Kristen Healy, whose father ran a convenience store from the same unit since the early nineties, has established The Lido Stores as a local gallery that showcases some of the best emerging art from the south-east and London - see our exclusive interview with them here.
The Lido Stores comprises of Gallery 1, a large permanent space devoted to showcasing original work by over 40 resident artists, along with Gallery 2, an adjoining white cube hosting a diverse range of solo and group shows, and two open calls, throughout the year. The private views typically draw hundreds of people over the course of the evening and have become a place to connect with artists and those passionate about the arts.
The artist selection for The Lido Open
This exhibition represents a fresh influx of talent for the gallery and Margate’s burgeoning creative community.
On this year’s Open, Kristen Healy said: “Each Lido Open has seen a marked increase in the number of submissions. We had over 1,200 entrants, which is a tremendous response. Vincent Hawkins and I worked together to compile a shortlist over the summer before making a final selection, from which the 76-artist show is formed. For the first time, the Open is occupying both Gallery 2 and part of Gallery 1 – the expansion into Gallery 1 reflects the growing scale of the Lido Open. This year’s is the biggest yet, both in terms of the number of entrants and the number of exhibiting artists. We’re also delighted to include Margate’s own Tracey Emin in the 2024 Open – a testament to The Lido Stores’ profile that we hope draws a bead on the gallery and attracts new visitors to the gallery.
“It’s particularly interesting to see how a guest judge influences the style of entries. You can look at each Open and see how the respective judges – Enzo Marra, Anne Ryan and Charles Williams – put their mark not only on the selected entrants, but on the curation of the exhibition itself.
“It’s very much a collaborative effort that uniquely enriches each Open. This year follows suit, and Vincent Hawkins’ influence can be seen across the works chosen. There are wonderful, accomplished artists in the show, coupled with striking emerging talents; that combination is particularly exciting for those with a love of contemporary painting.”
This year’s guest judge is Vincent Hawkins.
Vincent Hawkins (born 1959, UK) is a visual artist, who has shown extensively in Britain and abroad with solo exhibitions in Chicago, London and Paris, and has exhibited in group shows in France, Italy, the UK and USA. Among his accolades are shortlisting for the Jerwood Drawing Prize (2006), being a finalist in the John Moores Painting Prize (2012) and John Moore’s 24 (2006). Hawkins exhibits with Sid Motion Gallery, London, and has recently joined the cadre of artists operating from Tracey Emin’s TKE Studios in Margate.
Hawkins embraces diversity in his creative processes. Primarily a painter working in oil and acrylic on wood, canvas and paper, he describes ‘play’ as a crucial component in his practice and favours working in a range of approaches, often incorporating different mediums in an installation, and refusing to exclude one area of his practice for another.
“I’m grateful to Charlies Williams and Kristen Healy for inviting me to be guest judge for this year’s Lido Open”, says Hawkins. “It’s the first time I’ve been invited to contribute in such a role, and it’s been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Around 1,200 submissions were received, and Kristen and I have chosen 76 artists from those entrants – that process in of itself has been great fun. That aside, the standard and variety of work entered was fabulous, and it’s enlivening to see how so many have embraced the theme of ‘play’ in its broadest sense. I’d like to extend a big ‘thank-you’ to everyone who applied, and commiserations to those who didn’t succeed this year!”
