Review: Plantae 23 - Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists

Yesterday I visited Plantae 2023 - the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists at the Mall Galleries to view the exhibition and to choose the winner of award I sponsor.

I'll be going back tomorrow - when it will hopefully be a little less crowded - to review again the artwork and the winners of various awards and Certificates of Botanical Merit. There will then be three more posts after this one focusing on:

• Exhibiting Excellence Winners
• the Certificate of Botanical Merit
• The Main Award Winners (SBA and sponsors)

I'll be focusing in this review on:​

• what's changed
• the scope and quality of the exhibition

Here are the headlines for WHAT'S CHANGED

1. fewer artworks on the wall 
2. a much more botanical emphasis
3. more artists from international countries
4. more younger artists exhibiting 
5. many more people at the Private View
6. ​what's missing this year

I'll also be highlighting throughout what I particularly noticed which won't get a mention in other posts.

I'm also going to be uploading photos I took yesterday to my BA&A Facebook Page once this review has been published - and I'll include links here once that's been done.
​(Now included below)

• SBA’s Plantae 2023: West Gallery 69 items
• SBA’s Plantae 2023 - North Gallery 33 items
  

What's different about Plantae 2023?

Part of the Trees Wall

It's simply not the same exhibition that it has been hitherto - and looks much better for it.
In effect, rather like the Monarchy and its new Carolean Age, it feels a bit like we're entering a new Age with the SBA too. 

FEWER ARTWORKS

This exhibition has just 366 artworks - in effect halving the size of the exhibition.  That's because, in the past, this was an exhibition which used to hang more than 700 artworks on the wall. Latterly reduced to c.500.

This one was hung in just one day with the assistance of

• a very detailed wall plan of what goes where
• artwork carefully stacked according to which wall it was one - so no sort to do
• and, of course, the skilled technicians at the Mall Galleries

As ever it looks very good with a number of themes which I'll come on to.

A MORE BOTANICAL EMPHASIS

Two things seem to have happened. The first is that the new digital selection process means that

• all artworks are anonymous
• selection is done remotely and by individuals which means less 'groupthink'  
• all are treated the same in terms of scrutiny of the entry

This means that while member artists can enter more artworks, there is no guarantee that all will be hung. Their work is also treated equally with the artwork submitted via the Open Entry.

The second thing which seems to have happened is there are fewer "flower paintings" for want of a better term.

While this society may have started out in 1985 with rather more flower painters than botanical artists, it now has a membership which has been increasingly bolstered by those coming through the Distance Learning Diploma Course route means many more now have a very sound grounding in the knowledge and expertise required for botanical art.  That in turn means fewer paintings of the type which used to be allowed in the past and much more emphasis in this exhibition on a wide range of botanical art.

In other words it's now doing what "it says on the tin"! As with everything, it's all a process of evolution.

MORE INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS

There are 186 artists from more than 30 countries exhibiting in this exhibition. 

I'm going to see if I can work out what those countries are - or obtain a listing from the SBA. I've certainly done posts about lists of selected artists in the past - and linked names to their main site online.

I think I'm right in saying that there were botanical artists from the Ukraine, Indonesia and Portugal at the PV last night.

MORE YOUNGER ARTISTS

​It may be that I'm now a lot older than I was when I first started visiting this exhibition 17 years ago in 2006 (i.e. the young artists then are middle aged now, and the middle aged then are now much older!) but one of the things which struck me the most yesterday was the fact that many of the artists are now a lot younger! As somebody who attends most of the PVs of the national art societies that exhibit at the Mall Galleries it certainly didn't have that feel of those aged 50+ rule the roost! This is emphatically not a society dominated by ladies who have reached retirement age and need a new occupation!

That and the fact that many familiar faces from the past were simply not there. Which is a pity - but understandable. I suspect some of them will visit on the less busy days.

Artists are still typically female - but not exclusively so. 

part of the exhibition in the North Gallery

Many more people at the Private View This is the view from the Mezzanine as the Presidents' speeches got underway

MANY MORE PEOPLE AT THE PRIVATE VIEW

One of the most amazing things for me was just how many people were at the Private View. This has always been a Society which has had a very good attendance at the Private View. This year, the Society has excelled itself and those attending filled the West Gallery when the speeches were being made and there were still people enjoying the exhibition in the North Gallery. 

The trick now is to convert those attendees into sales!

It was also lovely to see Shirley Sherwood (and Rachel) at the Private View, although maybe a bit busy last night for a proper look round!

​WHAT MISSING THIS YEAR
I lament the absence of a virtual exhibition. It's my belief that virtual exhibitions are what has generated more international interaction in relation to various botanical art exhibitions. They enable those who may enter to see the standard of the work.

Also interactive virtual exhibitions can be very successful at generating online sales. Other exhibitions in these galleries start online at least a week before the exhibition in the gallery and have usually generated sales by the time it opens. It also helps those who visit an exhibition and then wish they'd bought a painting they liked!

Plus we've all got used to online exhibitions and now expect them!

I gather there may be changes in the offing which might resolve this issue for next year.

I lament the fact that the catalogue

• only provides the artists name, title of the work, media and price and
• leaves out the size (typically included in catalogues for other exhibitions at the Mall Galleries).

For me this info is an ESSENTIAL feature of any catalogue for an art exhibition. It helps those in the gallery and those buying the catalogue outside the exhibition to understand what was on view. It's also even more important this is included if there's no online exhibition.

I'd also love to see GM added to artists' names as it has in the past. There are a LOT of RHS Gold Medal Winners on the walls of this exhibition but this is not recognised in the catalogue. I was walking round recognising them but I'm guessing few others were.

Scope and quality of the botanical artwork

Below I comment on:

• Themes
• Media​

Part of the Tree Wall in the West Gallery

THEMES

While artwork has been very effectively themed according to colour in the past, this year there was more of an emphasis on the plants. Hence we had:

• a wall devoted to trees
• a wall dominated by horticulture - garden flowers
• an area devoted to fruits 
• an area in the North Gallery focused on the rather more strange and exotic

I thought this approach worked very well  - particularly in relation to the trees.

Horticultural flowers in the West Gallery

A wall about fruit

COMPLEXITY

I noticed that there was a great deal more complexity - and consequently work - in many of the artworks in the exhibition.

While there are some fairly simple renditions of botanical subject matter, there seemed to me to be less, in percentage terms, compared to previous exhibitions.

If standards continue to improve, I think this particular factor of complexity (or "challenge"?) might become a key differentiating factors in the selection of exhibits for future exhibitions.  Think of it along the lines of what makes an RHS Exhibit a Gold Medal winning one as opposed to one of the lesser metals. It's very often to do with the amount of work done to compose and create a complex piece of artwork - as well as the quality of botanical observation and artwork which results.

That said there's always room for smaller simpler artworks which create more affordable artwork for some collectors.

MEDIA 

Exhibits include watercolour, oil, gouache, acrylic, graphite, colour pencil artwork, as well as hand pulled original prints, sculpture and jewellery.
​
I'll be commenting more on media used when I turn my attention to the Excellence Awards. I might even do a count up to generate a better understanding of the range of media used. However it's worth commenting one a few matters.

As always, some of the best watercolour painting - in a technical sense - that I see in the Mall Galleries comes from those in this exhibition who paint in watercolour.

It was very much the same as always this year. Standards are very high with some superlative work on show.

​I was very pleased to see that we're seeing a wider range of printmaking techniques used and selected for this exhibition.

It was also good to see a wider range of media generally. 

I came across plants created from embroidered silk fabric and thread and placed under a glass dome - which was very definitely a new one on me! Although the two works by Emma Saunders didn't win, they both got onto the  shortlist for my Making A Mark Award.

Passiflora by Emma Saunders (Embroidered sil fabric and thread)

Plantae 2023: Exhibition Details

• Venue for Plantae 2023 Exhibition: Mall Galleries in The Mall
• Dates: Opened to the public on 16th May 2022 and continues until 20th May 2023
• Hours: 10am - 5pm

There is no Virtual Exhibition this year.

the walk through to the North Gallery

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Past posts about SBA Annual Exhibitions (2006-2023)

Posts prior to 2017 were posted on Making A Mark - my first art blog

2023 - Plantae 2023

• Plantae 2023: How to exhibit at the SBA's Annual Exhibition

​
2022 - Plantae 2022 (when I was recovering from surgery - and this was my first exhibition outing!)

• SBA Plantae 2022: Certificates of Botanical Merit
• Plantae 2022: Exhibiting Excellence Awards
• SBA Plantae 2022: Award Winners
• Plantae 2022 - and a new Award

2021 - Plantae 2021 (2nd Pandemic / Virtual Exhibition)

• SBA Plantae 2021 Virtual Exhibition now online

2020 - Plantae 2020 (1st Pandemic / Virtual Exhibition)

• Plantae 2020: Selected Artists
• SBA's VIRTUAL Online Annual Exhibition opens
• SBA Annual Exhibition to go online - from 3rd June

2019 - Plantae

• Review: Society of Botanical Artists 2019 - Plantae
• Plantae: SBA Annual Exhibition 2019 - Selected Artists
• Awards - Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2019
• Certificates - Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2019

2018 - no exhibition

2017 - Changing Seasons

• Review: Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2017 - Changing Seasons
• Ticketed Events at the SBA Annual Exhibition 2017
• Annual exhibition - SBA Feedback on Selection

2016 - Shape, Pattern and Structure

• Review: SBA Exhibition 2016 - Shape, Pattern and Structure
• Prizewinners - Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2016
• Society of Botanical Art 2016 - Certificates of Botanical Merit

2015 - In Pursuit of Plants

• Prizewinners at the Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2015
• Society of Botanical Art: Certificates of Botanical Merit 2015

2014 - The Botanical Garden

• Society of Botanical Artists - Annual Exhibition 2014 - Call for Entries - reviews what you need to enter this exhibition
• Prizewinners at the Society of Botanical Artist's Annual Exhibition 2014 -  Highlights the changes in this year's exhibition and the prizewinners 
• Certificates of Botanical Merit at SBA Annual Exhibition 2014

2013 - The Language of Flowers

• Prizewinners at Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2013 
• Other prizewinners at the SBA Annual Exhibition 2013
• Society of Botanical Artists: "The Language of Flowers" - Call for Entries 

2012 - Botanical Celebration

• 27th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists
• Certificates of Botanical Merit at SBA 2012 
• 2012 Prizewinners at Society of Botanical Art's Annual Exhibition 
• A 'Making A Mark' Profile of Fiona Strickland - I was delighted last week to meet up with and interview an artist I've very much admired for the last four years and five SBA exhibitions - Fiona Strickland DA SBA GM CBM '09, CBM, 11 and CBM 12.
• Society of Botanical Artists Submission Day - and a botanical egg 
• Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2012: Call for Entries -
• Exhibition 2012 Botanical Celebration 

2011 - The World of Plants

• SBA website - Exhibition 2011 The World Of Plants - 8 to 17 April 2011: 751 botanical works including miniatures and three-dimensional work were shown. 
• Review: Society of Botanical Artists Exhibition 2011 
• Certificates of Botanical Merit at SBA Exhibition 2011 

2010 - The Silver Jubilee

• SBA website: Exhibition 2010 The Silver Jubilee - 16 to 25 April 2010: 746 botanical works including miniatures and three-dimensional work were
• EXHIBITION: Society of Botanical Artists 2010 #1 
• A Making A Mark Interview with Mary Ann Scott - on the occasion of the publication of the book about her sketchbook completed during the Diploma Course
• Society of Botanical Artists 2010 Prizewinners - 
• Botanical art in coloured pencils
• Society of Botanical Artists - Silver Jubilee Exhibition - 25th anniversary of the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA). Includes details of this year's annual Open Exhibition and how to enter your botanical artwork.

2009 - Flowers and Gardens

• Two works juried into SBA Annual Exhibition - I've had news that two of my coloured pencil drawings have been juried into the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists.
• Exhibition Review: Society of Botanical Artists (2009) #1 - The standard of work at this year's Annual "Flowers and Gardens" Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists is simply stunning. I urge all artists who have ever wanted to pursue botanical or floral art to go and take a look at the quality of the work on display
• Exhibition Review: Society of Botanical Artists (2009) #2 - This post focuses on individual artists in this year's Annual "Flowers and Gardens" Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists. [Now updated to include all the details of prizewinners]
• The biggest exhibition of coloured pencil artwork in the UK - the SBA Annual Exhibition is currently providing the largest display of coloured pencil artwork in the UK in the last 12 months (although obviously not an exhibition which is a dedicated display of coloured pencil art.) 

2008 - the Botanical Palette

• Society of Botanical Artists - The Botanical Palette exhibition - (April 2008) I visited the 22nd Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) yesterday. This year, the Society is celebrating the publication of its second book and its title is reflected in the title of the exhibition

2007 -Flowers and Gardens

• Society of Botanical Artists - Flowers and Gardens Exhibition 2007 - (April 2007) The annual Flowers and Gardens exhibition by the Society of Botanical Artists at Central Hall Westminster maintained its very high standard this year 

2006 

• The Society of Botanical Artists To become an Associate you must have submitted five works and had ALL five works accepted for two consecutive years: that is 10 out of 10 paintings accepted in total over two successive years. 
• Review of the SBA Exhibition (2006) (April 2006) I visited the Society of Botanical Artists exhibition yesterday and was totally blown away by the very fine quality of most of the artwork shown. There are some very impressive and accomplished artists exhibiting with the SBA - including