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LEVEL Open Call – Exhibition

Online Public Art Exhibition

Contemporary Visual Art

“LEVEL Centre’s inaugural Open Exhibition marks a new stage in the organisation’s existence; one that seeks to reach new artists and audiences in a continuation of its aspirations to celebrate and support all kinds of creative experiences with, by and for disabled artists. This Open exhibition includes a brilliant selection of artists both disabled and non disabled, all of whom showcase a wide range of styles of working; from the quiet introspective of domestic space, to vivid, expressive portraiture which offers a new perspective on iconic pop-imagery.

There’s something really lovely about being able to take these moments of creativity that so often are held exclusively in private spaces, and pose them publicly. It’s one of my favorite aspects of working creatively, to take a thing – image, object, performance – and hold it in a space where it can be gazed upon, felt and heard; where it can be chatted about, discussed and critiqued; where it can be shared in a world beyond your own. Open Exhibitions have a wonderful way of doing this, especially when there are so many barriers in accessing shared, critically creative spaces for many artists. This is particularly the case for many disabled artists, which is why we were so delighted to have so many artworks by disabled artists featured in the show.

We are so excited to be able to exhibit these works and take advantage of the wonderful gallery space at LEVEL Centre, utilising our unique venue in the heart of the Peak District to facilitate many kinds of creative experiences. We are thrilled to be platforming these artists, and look forward to sparking more connections between our artists and our audiences in this new programme going forward.”

Bella Milroy – LEVEL Artistic Associate

Vote For Your Favourite Work

We’re running a Public Choice Award, kindly sponsored by Turners Art Supplies. You can select your favourite piece of work, so have a look at each piece, choose your favourite and get voting at the bottom of this page.

Voting closes Monday 25 October.
The winner will be announced Friday 29 October. 

The image is a vignette, that is to say that what was once a square shape of plywood has had its edges cut into. The top and bottom edges are almost reverse mirror images, as are the different top and bottom edges. The whole image is comprised of hard edge shapes in black, white and small amounts of orange. The composition is arranged in an X. The parts derive from a study of the structure of the bird and include, bars, semi-circles, darts and chevrons, and curved wedges. The work measures 60 x60 cm and is painted in oils.

Upupa Epops – David Walton

Concept of the piece: Previously, my shaped panels explored tessellating grids, these were followed by the individual tile shapes, and from these developed the bird series of freer shapes. Where in the past my main concern had been complex colour against colour, for this series I wanted to reduce the colours down to two, at most three colours. I was seeking an heraldic impact with the finished piece.

This portrait is of the artist Vincent Van Gogh. It is inspired by the bright colours and shapes he used. The piece is draw with brightly coloured felt tips. The main face of the portrait is quite abstract and is coloured in a bright yellow. The face is turned slightly to one side, but the person looks out of the picture at us. He has small eyes and a nose which are drawn in black felt tip, close together in the middle of the persons face. Under the nose is a large mouth which fills all of the bottom of the face. The lips are bright red and thick with rough, wobbly edges. Inside the lips we can just see the tip of a pink tongue sticking out. The person has a thin line of dark green hair which sits around the top of the face. The person is wearing a bright but light blue top with stitching and details on it. The background is made up of lots of small shapes some swirling upwards on the right in green, yellow, blue and orange. On the left there are circle shapes and more swirling lines in blues.

2nd Prize Winner – Vincent Van Gogh – Luke Thorpe

Concept of the piece: This piece of artworks is inspired by the work of the artist in the picture, Vincent Van Gogh. The colours chosen are ones picked out from pieces of his work. Luke uses his own signature style to recreate this portrait of Van Gogh. He captures the facial expression using his very angular style.

The work is a colourful, crayon-drawn image, that evokes a lush summer's day.

An Image of Austria – Ali Cliff

Concept of the piece: This is a picture drawn from memories of Ali’s trip to see a large waterfall in Austria, and all the other aspects of the Austrian landscape that Ali saw along the way.

An embroidery piece on a cream calico fabric, presented in a 12 inch by 12 inch wooden embroidery hoop, it is sewn entirely with black stranded cotton and features a wooden marionette on strings, being raised by a hand at the top of the hoop. Surrounding this image is a circular border of flowers and leaves.

Rising – Brontë Charles

Concept of the piece: Rising is a piece inspired by the internal conflict of “being yourself” and the struggle to let go and not conform to the standards and expectations that society can push on you.

On a square white canvas there is a grey face with wide open dark blue eyes with an amber ring around the pupil. The image is distorted by a series of paper strips in shades of grey. The forehead and mouth are the most distorted and the strips here are of different widths, lengths and colours. Shades of red, green, purple, orange, yellow and blue. The edges of the artwork upon the canvas are uneven edges of the strips of paper.

Glitch – Kirstie Adamson

Concept of the piece: I created this piece as a way to process being diagnosed with functional neurological disorder. During recovery from surgery I started with functional tremors and speech problems. The piece resembles a television screen or monitor when there is a glitch with the signal which echos the glitch in my nervous system. The eyes are open wide in fear which is how I felt when I first realised something was wrong. It is about accepting my diagnosis and moving forward in the best way I can.

Object: Raindrops Action: Trickling Context: on the outside of a car windscreen A 100x100 centimetre Acrylic painting capturing raindrops trickling on the outside of a car windscreen. Using dull blues, greys, black and white contrasting with bright yellow car headlights from oncoming traffic during this stormy downpour.

1st Prize Winner – Stormy Day – Belysning

Concept of the piece: On a journey back from a trip to the supermarket I was in the passenger seat of a car when the Stormy rain began. Being attracted to raindrops and their appearance from within vehicles and buildings I did what was needed and took photographs with my smartphone. Eventually developing into an impression of the original photo through the transference of paint to paint brush to canvas. About the artists: I am a painter based in Yorkshire. Diagnosed with a mental health disorder for over a decade. My life had pretty much stopped for 7 years. After being referred to art in the community opportunities by the NHS in my local area I gained confidence and rekindled my love for creating art. Starting by taking photographs in the outside world as a distraction to difficulties I experience, this gave me a basis to create paintings and reconnect with something I hadn’t done since Sixth form college. Using Acrylic and occasional oil paint I am able to bring positivity and express myself through the art process.

This work is a very colour, semi-abstract, semi-figurative work.

The Court of the Crimson King – Chris Senior

Concept of the piece: Chris Senior has a very unique drawing style, and this is his version of the famous King Crimson album sleeve for ‘The Court of the Crimson King’. It is part of a series of unique versions of famous music albums by Chris.

The piece is a photographic image, A4 size and horizontal. This image was created in the artist’s bathroom. The scene is the window of the room. Two fuchsia plants are in the foreground, sitting next to each other. They are in front of a piece of delicate, voile curtain, which is decorated with printed blue roses with green leaves. The fuchsia on the left has emerald and bottle-green shaded leaves, with intense pink and magenta flowers. The shape of the fuchsia flowers is almost other-worldly in its complexity and beauty. There are several outer petals in the intense pink and the inner petals are of magenta hue. From the very centre of each flower, there hangs a candy-pink and white pollen-dusty, sticky stamen. The fuchsia on the right is similar to the one on the left, but with reddish-pink outer petals which have just begun their withering process. The inner petals of the right fuchsia are a delicious creamy-white. The stamens of these flowers are bright pink and a deep, beetroot red. The foliage is healthy, lush and verdant. Outside the window lies a mysterious, blue night.

Blue Night Outside – Wendy Paterson

Concept of the piece: Since I became disabled in 2015, I have learned to value the smallest, everyday wonders of life. I cannot always access the outdoors, so I create interior images at those times. This is an image which celebrates strength and fragility side by side. It celebrates my interior and exterior life. Inside are the beautiful houseplants which I tend to several times a day, watering and misting. This is an image of care and of love. The blue night outside lies beyond the familiar fuchsias. The night is mysterious, unknown and compelling. The particular shade of blue is beauteous and shows that night has come. The night is the shade of the blue lotus, which was routinely used in Ancient Egypt for its medicinal properties. Images have a therapeutic effect on me and that is why I create them.

This piece of artwork is abstract and full of patterns. The background of the piece is made with sections of smudged oils pastels to make a patchwork of different colours which blend into each other. These are mostly mustard yellows, browns, greens and burnt oranges. Over this background there are three corkscrew twirls go vertically down the page, one in the middle and two either side. The middle twirl is light milky green, the right one is a very dark green and the left one is a bright orange colour. The left twirl also has a dark green twirl passing across it at an angle. In the bottom left and right corner are a cluster of small V marks that look a little bit like a flock of birds flying. To the right of the image are three bold blue dots which dominate the picture. They are positioned in a triangle shape across from each other. Across the image are lots of other small details, some where the pastel has been scratched away to make a mark. There are squares, tiny dots and dashes and little circles. The overall image is bright and lively.

Nerds – Elliot King

Concept of the piece: Elliott began making this series of work as part of an exploration into collaborative mark making before deciding to create mark making works on his own. He is interested in experiment with oil pastels and the different marks and textures which can be made by layering, smudging, applying light and strong marks and by scratching the pastel away revealing the surface below. This exploration has created a huge body of work which is rich in pattern, texture and exciting composition.

The 1st image is of mount fuji and cherry blossom at the bottom.I have added some English cherry blossom printed images through the side of the painting.The piece is finished off with Japanese Calligraphy which says ' Allah is Transcending'. The 2nd piece is of Japanese Mosque and on the sides there are strips of Japanese cherry blossom glued down in vertical and horizontal effect.At the top left hand is some English Cherry Blossom from my garden.The piece is finished off with Japanese calligraphy which says my name on the right and 'Sakura' 'Japan' 'Love' on the Left descending. The piece is backed on printed paper using corrugated cardboard and bubble wrap and on top is carbon paper is used to print Japanese flowers. The 3rd piece has 5 to 6 japanese parasols drawn in the middle and is surrounded by printed pictures of famous Japanese places.There are some carbon paper printed flowers in the piece as well as 3 tissue paper flowers at the top and left and side in cherry blossom colours with gold glitter in the middle.

Collage with Japanese Art – Riffat Younis

Concept of the piece: The concept is Collage with Japanese Art.It incorporates the Festival of Hanami- Japanese Cherry blossom.I have blended the pieces with elements of Japanese Islamic Art.

The Gallery

Our Exhibition is currently online with an in-person opening happening in September

Vote For Your Favourite Work

Use the form below to vote for your favourite piece of work* and the winner will be announced in October!

*Please note, only 1 vote per person will be counted both online and in person. For online votes, we will ask for your full name and email address which will be time stamped. Any duplicate votes using the same details will not be counted towards the final results.


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