20 September - 18 October 2025

We are delighted to introduce the Lido Open 2025 shortlist. More than 100 artists were chosen by Sophie von Hellermann and Kristen Healy from more than 1,800 submissions. This must-see cultural event opens its doors at The Lido Stores on 20 September and runs to 18 October 2025, with an opening reception and announcement of the winning artist on Saturday, 20 September, 7-9pm.

This is the fifth annual Lido Open, with the winning artist receiving the prize of a solo presentation at The Lido Stores in 2026.

Hamideh Abol     •     Felix Akulw     •     Carolina Ambida     •     Paul Andrews     •     Judith Anketell     •     Julie Annis     •     Josie Appleby     •     Olya Avstreyh     •     Divya Balivada     •     Laura L Bell     •     Kulbir Bhandal     •     Andy Black     •     Jennifer Blake     •     Sara Breinlinger     •     Molly Brown     •     Jessica Brox     •     Maureen Burke     •     Deirdre Byrne     •     Rebecca Byrne     •     Lucy Cade     •     Danny Cameron     •     Lisa Carter Grist     •     Julie Caves     •     Ben Coleman     •     Victoria Coombes     •     Bliss Coulthard     •     Liz Crossfield     •     Maeve Curtis     •     Gordon Dalton     •     Maria Elvira Dieppa     •     Emma Digerud-White     •     Alex Dipple     •     Freya East     •     Andrew Ekins     •     Ginny Elston     •     Rebecca Elves     •     Charlotte Evaristo     •     Tamara Gangnus     •     Misa Gott     •     Bruno Grad     •     Emily Grenville-Grey     •     Chris Hagan     •     Amanda Houchen     •     Diane Howse     •     Davina Jackson     •     Ellis Jackson-Cohen     •     Daisy Jarrett     •     Susan Jessop     •     Ann Kavanagh     •     Esme Keenleyside     •     Lady Lucy     •     Robert Lawton     •     Jolene Liam     •     Caroline List     •     Emily Macduff     •     Gabriela Max     •     Eilish McCann     •     Lucy Merriman     •     Jen Metcalfe     •     Sarah Neale     •     Mirja Oksanen     •     Zeynep Ozkan     •     Christine Pocock     •     Marianne Potterton     •     Andy Poulter     •     Sarah Praill     •     Alex Price     •     Toby Rainbird     •     Peter Roseman     •     Melanie Russell     •     Frances Ryan     •     Anna Marie Savage     •     Hannah Savage     •     Casper Scarth     •     Adelaide Shalhope     •     Anne Smith     •     Lucy Spanyol     •     Dorry Spikes     •     Fiona Stanbury     •     Clare Thatcher     •     Gwennan Thomas     •     Karen Thomas     •     Caroline Thomson     •     Gary Thorne     •     Geoff Tibbs     •     Rosie Tuff     •     Alaena Turner     •     Daniel Turner     •     Friederike Von Hellermann     •     Matilda Wainwright     •     Lorraine Wake     •     Ben Walker     •     Ellie Walker     •     Ally Wallace     •     Lorraine Walsh     •     Casey Walshe     •     Henry Ward     •     Dylan White     •     Charles Williams     •     Hannah Wooll     •     Verity Woolley     •     Wu Robin     •     Ara Youn

 

The Lido Stores is well-known for owner-gallerist Kristen Healy’s dynamic and inspiring curation. The Lido Open 2025 will see Healy curate more than 100 works alongside Sophie von Hellermann, occupying the entirety of The Lido Stores for the first time. This, the ninth – and biggest – open call staged by The Lido Stores, introduces a cadre of phenomenal artists to the south-east’s arts scene, the majority of whom are exhibiting in Margate for the first time. The co-curation is always a talking point on opening night, the conversations between pieces inspiring vibrant discussion amongst artists and aficionados alike.

About guest judge Sophie von Hellermann

Sophie von Hellermann (b. 1975, Munich) lives and works in London and Margate. Her paintings recall the look of fables, legends, and traditional stories that are imbued with the workings of her subconscious rather than the content of existing images. Her romantic, pastel-washed canvases are often installed to suggest complex narrative threads. Von Hellermann applies pure pigment directly onto unprimed canvas, and her use of broad-brushed washes imbues a sense of weightlessness to her pictures. Von Hellermann’s paintings draw upon current affairs as often and as fluidly as they borrow from the imagery of classical mythology and literature to create expansive imaginary places. In subject matter and style, von Hellermann tests imagination against reality.

 Sophie von Hellermann received her BFA from Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf and an MFA from Royal College of Art, London. Selected recent solo exhibitions include: Moonage, Pilar Corrias, London, UK (2025); Poisson de Folie, Galerie Sardine, Amagansett, New York, US (2024); Out of Time, Pilar Corrias, London (2022); Schloss Freienwalde, Bad Freienwalde, Germany (2022, commission), and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Pilar Corrias, London (2020); Judgement Day. Selected recent group exhibitions include: Your Mind is Now an Ocean, Pilar Corrias, London, UK (2024); Wild NM, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US (2024); Sirens: Sophie von Hellermann and Anne Ryan, Turner Contemporary, Kent, UK (commission) (2021), and Mixing It Up: Painting Today, Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2021).

 Von Hellermann has been a prominent champion of the arts scene in Margate, and it’s a privilege to welcome her to The Lido Stores to shape the fifth year of the prestigious open call that has done much to introduce new artistic talent to the town.