MD: How did you find the experience?

AT: Having a committee of six people in the way that DE operates provides a wide entry point. I found the experience quite fascinating. For me it was also quite rewarding as an open show to select in one sense because most open shows have the dreadful voting system, which means that you can feel
very strongly about something, but the majority won't take it through. Or, for instance, there is the Jerwood Drawing Prize which I run, which is a debate between 3 people. But with the DE, you do have that moment when you are selecting things and you realise that you have to stand up for your choice. The only difficulty is when everyone wants the same thing! During the selection process, they come along with one work and, strategically, you have to know where each comes out and know where to sit in order to get the best ones! But actually there's something quite nice about that - you just have to think about bidding for them; and there's a sense of responsibility about it, which is fantastic.

I thought that my selection had a good sense about it, although one can't tell that at the time of selection. And then with the DE, the opportunity to invite artists makes up for any holes in what you would want in a collection. I also thought there was a real sense of the judges' particular interests and I thought that their personalities often came to the fore. So that was very strong.

MD: How do you judge success with your choices?

AT: I'm looking for images which convey the subject through the medium.

MD: How does that manifest itself in terms of the hanging, when you get potentially such eclectic mix of works?

AT: It can be difficult, particularly for work that's more dependent on installation. And some work may suffer in that it isn't in the kind of space it would normally be seen in … and of course you are always looking at 6 different people with a project to put together one collection, but then the work is hung in sections, which gives a visual variety – again, that is the nature of the show.

MD: What do you think the DE's reputation and image is, particularly for those who submit works?

AT: I think it's important to that middle ground, those artists in particular who do not have regular gallery shows … and what's good is to see those people pushing in. It's an opportunity to be seen. There are hundreds of thousands of artists in this country who do not have many opportunities. There's also an element of peer review, which is important. Furthermore, the fact that there are prizes to be won is important, not to mention the selling aspect !

 

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