Showcasing artists in England whose projects were cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns

Simon Paris - Theatre Director and Producer. From postponed 'The Importance of Being... Earnest?' Real audience members are cast on the spot to star in a play when the lead actor doesn't arrive. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Simon Paris – Theatre Director and Producer. From postponed ‘The Importance of Being… Earnest?’ Real audience members are cast on the spot to star in a play when the lead actor doesn’t arrive. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Lara Hailey - Textile, installation, ceramic, print and text artist. From cancelled Artist Book Residency Women's Studio Workshop - 50. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Lara Hailey – Textile, installation, ceramic, print and text artist. From cancelled Artist Book Residency Women’s Studio Workshop – 50. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Andy Sowerby - filmmaker and visual artist.  From postponed CONTACT - part of Cryptic Nights, Glasgow - An audiovisual performance that examines the skin, tactility and haptic perception. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Andy Sowerby – filmmaker and visual artist. From postponed CONTACT – part of Cryptic Nights, Glasgow – An audiovisual performance that examines the skin, tactility and haptic perception. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Marita Upeniece. From cancelled UAL Graduate Showcase/Free Range - 'Her Night City' photography series explores the emotions and tension women experience when taking up space in the night city. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Marita Upeniece (maritaupeniece.com/ @maritaupeniece) From cancelled UAL Graduate Showcase/Free Range – ‘Her Night City’ photography series explores the emotions and tension women experience when taking up space in the night city. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Kinnari Saraiya - . From cancelled Graduate Show 2020 - Victoria Terminus is a plinth on which the Empress of India once stood, covered in Chili Powder. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Kinnari Saraiya – From cancelled Graduate Show 2020 – Victoria Terminus is a plinth on which the Empress of India once stood, covered in Chili Powder. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Mandy Williams - Photography, video and sound artist . Disrupted Landscapes image from cancelled England exhibition. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Mandy Williams – Photography, video and sound artist . Disrupted Landscapes image from cancelled England exhibition. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Grae Wall – poet, lomographer and musician . Project name: Skull Puppets Single Release. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Grae Wall – poet, lomographer and musician . Project name: Skull Puppets Single Release. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Patricia Shrigley. From postponed show Breeding Ground at Social Housing Gallery. Patricia’s work looks at stereotypical ideas towards the so-called underclass; as feral, animals living in social housing and breeding for benefits. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Patricia Shrigley. From postponed show Breeding Ground at Social Housing Gallery. Patricia’s work looks at stereotypical ideas towards the so-called underclass; as feral, animals living in social housing and breeding for benefits. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Catherine Chinatree - Uk based multidisciplinary visual artist. From cancelled Elephant Lab Residency exhibition . Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Catherine Chinatree – Uk based multidisciplinary visual artist. From cancelled Elephant Lab Residency exhibition. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Sian Dorman - Costume Designer & Artist. From postponed Bedroom Artists- 'New Beginnings'. - Quarantine Jungle. Made in Lockdown-1 while in isolation solely from collected plastic rubbish. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Sian Dorman – Costume Designer & Artist. From postponed Bedroom Artists- ‘New Beginnings’. – Quarantine Jungle. Made in Lockdown-1 while in isolation solely from collected plastic rubbish. Part of Artquest project The Light of Day.
Artists selected for The Light of Day project

The COVID-19 pandemic affected all forms of artistic practice, with many artists unable to showcase work due to galleries closing and exhibitions being cancelled or postponed.

For The Light of Day, we invited artists based in England at any stage of their career to send us a single image of:

  • Plans
  • Ideas
  • Works in progress
  • Drafts, or
  • Completed work

that they had agreed plans to exhibit, but which were cancelled or postponed due to the COVID lockdowns, never seeing the light of day.

5 selectors chose 2 artists each to be featured in one of our monthly newsletters and Instagram page between July 2021 and June 2022. Each of the featured artists received an award of £150.

The selected artists were Simon Paris, Lara Hailey, Andy Sowerby, Marita Upeniece, Kinnari Saraiya, Mandy Williams, Grae Wall, Patricia Shrigley Sian Dorman and Catherine Chinatree.

The selectors also chose a further 5 shortlisted artists each to have an image showcased on our Instagram page. These 25 artists received a £50 fee.

The shortlisted artists were: John Antony Thadicaran, Özge Kayaaslan, Catherine Flood, Leah Stewart, Tahira Mandarino, Laurel Jay Carpenter, Alice Sheppard Fidler, Danielle Vaughan, Gisela Torres, Veronica Vossen, Oliver Bragg, Elizabeth Woodger, Ben Browton, Kia Whitcombe, Penny O’Brien, Antonia Jackson, Marcia Teusink, Steve Burden, Louise Beer, Thomas Oscar Miles, Caitriona Dunnett, Milda Lembertaitė, Paul Matosic, Jane Claire Wilson and Diane Gerrad.

Selectors

  • Amanprit Sandhu – A London based curator and writer with a focus on commissioning, performance-based practices and collaborative approaches to working
  • Kirsty Ogg – Director of New Contemporaries, the leading UK organisation supporting emergent art practice from UK art schools and alternative programmes.
  • Mary Cork – Co-founded ZELDA, a new proposition for an arts advisory, using fees earned from art consultancy to create free professional development platforms for artists underrepresented by existing commercial models.
  • Alessio Antoniolli – Director, Gasworks & Triangle Network , a non-profit contemporary visual art organisation working at the intersection between UK and international practices and debates.
  • Ben Yau – A Chinese-Scots visual artist based in London. A graduate from Camberwell College of Arts in the study of Fine Art Photography in 2019 and in the same year was selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries as well as Creekside Open.
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