East Coast Open Scarborough Art Gallery

I always find it difficult to deal with an exhibition that has rooms-full of items. My technique is to walk through purposefully, skim everything, note three to five examples that jump off the walls at me and then return later for a more detailed viewing. Sorry, but I just can’t manage too much input at one go.

As you would expect, with an initial entry of over two hundred and fifty works, and with ‘Open’ as an initial criterion, the standard is variable. However, selecting one hundred immediately implies more stringent benchmarks. Whatever they are, curator Dorcas Taylor has created a rewarding display of the creative talents of artists who live along the East coast.

And some of them are as young as five. This year’s Open includes a junior section that is small now but will, I predict, mushroom in years to come. On the theme of ‘The Seaside’, artists between the ages of five and twelve express what sand and sea means to them. I hesitate to reach for adjectives like ’charming’ or ‘naive’, but it is difficult to avoid smiling as you stand looking at these junior adventures in turning thought into images. Incidentally, they all possess the ‘naivety’, that some of the adult artists struggle to emulate. Who could resist a four legged octopus called ‘Bob’?

Or a portrait of a rhino (Survival of the Rhino – Liam Dutton)? Ecology is, as you might expect, a theme that runs strongly throughout the exhibition. However, it is not the worthiness of the cause that attracts the eye with this piece. The startling originality of the close-up point of view, the detail in the drawing and the unerring adroitness in capturing the sadness in a rhino’s eyes is its own justification.

Large animals and their threatened existence, plus a local connection also feature (Thor the Mainprize - Sue Wilmington) A recent visitor to the East Coast languishes behind a wet-fish shop window. It is quietly shocking that a much-loved creature might end up on a dinner plate - though I do not know anybody who eats walrus. There are so many possible themes here, for example: exploitation of nature, the reality of our relationship with sea creatures, the decline of fishing and small shops. All of this is accomplished in a very small space.

What I have selected here is a fraction of the work on show. I have not even mentioned the fabrics, the mixed media work or the photographs. Nor have I even hinted at the influences of Durer, Escher or Paul Nash.

The East Coast Open has much to appreciate and will engage any visitor