Guest judge Anne Ryan and Kristen Healy whittled down more than 400 submissions to a shortlist of 25 artists.

“The quality and quantity of applicants for the open calls has amazed us. We are very impressed with the talent the gallery is attracting. Lots of the applicants heard about us through word of mouth.
“It’s important for us that applying to the Open is free of charge, we only charge an administration fee to the exhibiting artists and keep it as low as possible. It’s important for us that individual financial circumstances aren’t a prohibitive factor in showcasing talent.”
- Kristen Healy, The Lido Stores

Of the selected artists exhibiting in the 2022 Open, only two had previously exhibited with The Lido Stores. The exhibition represented a fresh influx of talent for the gallery and Kent’s burgeoning creative community.

Suzanne Baker • Julia Burton • Dale Carney • Fiona Chambers • Jake Clark • Alison Cooke • Robin Dixon • Louise Evans • Paul Hazelton • Jo Mason • Anthony McAndrew • Mark Millstead • Sam Ng • Valerie Potter • Sukey Sleeper • Miguel Sopena • Dorry Spikes • Latifah Stranack • Shane Synnott • Michael Szapakowski • Caroline Thomson • Rebecca Truscott-Elves • Monica Perez Vega • Jane Walker • Caitlin Walton

The Judge - Anne Ryan

2022’s guest judge was Limerick, Ireland-born artist Anne Ryan (pictured below, right).

Now based in Margate and London, Anne is a contemporary artist renowned for her vibrant three-dimensional ‘cutout’ paintings depicting the physicality of the human form.

Her solo exhibitions include ‘Fighting on the Dance Floor’ at Exeter Phoenix Gallery (2022/23), ‘The City Rises’ at Dilston Gallery, Southwark Park Galleries (2021), ‘Earthly Delites’ at Hastings Contemporary (2019/2020), ‘Euoi, Euoi, Euoi’ at Ribot Gallery, Milan (2019), ‘The Cowboy Paintings’, Turps Gallery, London (2017), ‘A Barbarian at the Gate’ greengrassi, London (2017), ‘Things are not Looking Good’ at Limerick City Art Gallery, Limerick (2002), Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt (2001), as well as seven one-person exhibitions at greengrassi gallery, London since 2001.

Ryan’s two-person commission ’Sirens’ at Turner Contemporary, Margate, with Sophie Von Hellermann, runs from 2021 to April 2023 with the work changing four times during the exhibition.

In recent years Ryan’s paintings and ceramics have been included in ‘Freeze-Frame, Fast-Forward’ at Koppel Projects, Soho, London, ’They Catch Feelings, I Catch Bodies’ at Sim Smith gallery, London (2019), ‘If you can't stand the heat’, Roaming Gallery, London E8 (2018), ‘Roma IV’, APT Gallery, London (2018), ‘In the company of…’ TJ Boulting, Fitzrovia, London (2018), ‘Joy Revision’, Galerie Simpson, Swansea (part of Painting Biennial 2018), ‘A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas with Sirens on the Rocks after Charles Francois Lacroix de Marseille (A Fountain)’, with Karen Ruggaber, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1 (2018), ‘Garageland’, Rectory Projects, London E14 (2018), Jean-Luc Blanc, ‘Opera Rock’, CAPC Bordeaux, France (2009) and ‘Latest Paintings’, Lia Rumma, Milan (2004).

“It was a pleasure to be part of The Lido Stores and help choose work for the second Lido Open. I love the story of the shop and its place in Margate history. It’s always interesting to visit and see it working hard to make a real connection with the art and design community of Thanet.
“The work submitted was of a very good standard, and it was great to see a broad range of painting coming from far and near. We primarily chose the work that we thought would sit well together in the gallery space to create a narrative of contemporary painting’s rich diversity and its enduring strangeness.”
- Anne Ryan

The Winner - Sukey Sleeper

Sukey Sleeper’s (pictured top of the page, centre) entry into the 2022 Open, ‘Topside’ (oil on aluminium, 2022 - pictured below), is a delicate, beautiful depiction of a swan.

This painting speaks to a practice predominantly concerned with urban wildlife, and what it means to contemplate ‘nature’ in the contemporary city. This central question draws together wider themes, such as climate change, overcrowding, and fears for the future, alongside mythological, literary and archaeological interpretations of the human habitat.

She roots her practice in recording direct experience of urban spaces through drawing, painting and photography, with a particular interest in bodies of water as highly charged places - both in terms of their physical properties, their powerful symbolism, and their shifting role in the topography of the city.

Sleeper studied at Turps Art School and the University of Cambridge. She lives and works in London. Recent exhibitions include The Dolls House, Turps Banana (2022); Taplow House, London Roomshare 2 (2022); Safehouse 2, Peckham, London (2022); Medium Rare, Bermondsey Project Space (2021); London Working Memory, Treasure House, London (2018).

“I was so pleased to have been selected to take part in the Lido Open last October after submitting my painting ‘Topside’ to the open call. It was such a pleasure to be part of the show alongside so many brilliant works, and an unexpected joy to have judges Kristen Healy and Anne Ryan select my painting for the prize. I’m looking forward to working with Lido Stores to present a solo show later this year.”
- Sukey Sleeper