Frances Carey
The Prints and Drawings collection of the British Museum, where I spent the greater part of my adult life, is a remarkable confluence of the old and the new. Artists of all ages from the mid-fifteenth century to the present day cohabit to the instruction and delight of the public, who are freely admitted to the exhibition gallery, the Students' Room and now may consult much of the material online. Above all, the collection facilitates an endless series of 'conversations', between the works themselves, between those who consult the collection, those who are represented in it and those who have the privilege of working for the British Museum.

My choice of artists for the 2008 ING Discerning Eye is governed by the desire to set up a new set of 'conversations' between artists of very different backgrounds and styles. All have originality, integrity of vision, dedication of purpose and a way of 'seeing' the world which enlightens me constantly. The value of exhibitions is the opportunity to witness juxtapositions that might not otherwise occur, and to appreciate the physical qualities of the works concerned - their scale and manner of execution. Whether they are multiples or unique examples, whether produced by purely autographic or photographic and digital means, there is no substitute for experiencing 'the actual'.

Frances Carey is an author and former Deputy Keeper of Prints and Drawings and currently Head of National Programmes at the British Museum.