Adebanji Alade

“I was thrilled to be chosen as a selector. I have always had great respect for the Discerning Eye exhibition, which I have followed for over twenty years. Selecting was exciting because there was such an amazing range of works to choose from. Even though I chose work with an open mind, I would say that my love for representational art, came naturally as I selected the ones that I found really interesting and intriguing. It was a bit daunting because I couldn’t select all the ones I would have loved to, as there’s only so much you can put on the wall space. I kept going back through my list, to make sure I justified every one to the best of my ability. I was thinking of how narrow the chances of being accepted or not can be, it’s sometimes just sheer luck and sometimes just following one’s gut. Overall I think the range of the selectors gives each artist who entered a chance to be chosen from a panel formed from different backgrounds with diverse tastes and this should give every selected artist the conviction that what they are doing is somewhere up there with the very best art being made in the country and that’s something to be really proud of and what makes this exhibition special.”