The Theme

Exhibeo Art Magazine takes a broad approach to our theme driven competitions. For this competition, we will be accepting 2D paintings, mosaic, drawings, pastels, etching,mix media photography and 3D sculpture. Any artist over 18 years of age anywhere in the world is eligible to apply. Your art can focus on either time or the seasons. Or both.

Your work can be in any genre (landscape, abstract, still life, portraiture, figurative) and executed in any “ism” (realisms, impressionism, surrealism, expressionism, abstract expressionism, minimalism, etc).

Here is a basic breakdown of the thematic elements to get the creative juices flowing…

Time is tied into the notion of being: of being born, of growth, dynamic progression and, ultimately, death. Humans have studied time from the vantage point of science, religion and philosophy since early antiquity. All three of these branches of human inquiry have long understood that the range of time cycles is as vast as the universe. Yet while time affects all things: fruit flies, humans, mountain ranges, planets, stars, and galaxies… it remains elusive. It can be expressed in a myriad of ways. We are thus quite open to a wide range of art articulating this theme.

Seasons are temporal time markers that remind us that while an individual organism’s life is linear, it is part of a larger, more intricate time cycle that ultimately extends to cosmic proportions.

Different parts of the world experiences seasonal progression differently. Hailing from Montreal, Canada, we experience four distinct seasons very acutely: Spring is short, messy, and unpredictable, summer is very hot and humid, autumn is extremely colorful and brisk and winter is very cold and maybe a little too long. The extremes between summer and winter are considerable.

In hotter regions, there are two main seasonal markers: monsoon and the dry season.

Seasonal cues focus our activities on specific tasks, leisure activities and religious rituals. In turn, these tasks, activities and rituals link us to our communities and cultural heritage.

For this competition, we are interested in art that ties into either of these themes (or both!). As we pointed out above, there are no restrictions on genre: we are as equally interested in landscapes highlighting a specific time of day or year in your part of the world as an abstract color field that transports us far, far away in the cosmos. We are open to a wide range of subject matter that relates to time and seasons: human activity, seasonal rituals, times of day, daily rituals, various perspectives on time – birth, death, the stages of life, moments frozen in time, a second, minute, hour, day, tectonic movement and natural erosion over eons, or cosmic space/time to list but a few. The doors are wide open.

We encourage all applicants to fill out the field on the submission form entitled “Tell Us About the Artwork”. Don’t describe your work (we have eyes to see). Rather, tell us the story behind the painting: What is the work about? What motivated you to paint it? If there’s a reason for the materials you use, the manner in which you work, or the techniques you utilize we want to hear about it.

Prizes

1st Place winner: $300 cash prize + full interview published in Exhibeo online Art Magazine

2nd Place winner: $200 cash prize + promo features published in Exhibeo online Art Magazine

3rd Place winner: $100 cash prize + promo features published in Exhibeo online Art Magazine

All winners of each of our art competitions is featured in our social media and direct mailing marketing strategies to raise awareness of our winning artists among art collectors, as well as significantly boost their general online exposure.