The concept of “CATCH BY THE EYE SAVE IN THE HEART” was created by Magdalena Rutkowska
(a professional artist living and working in London) in 2004. The first exhibition
took place at Menier Gallery - London Bridge. By contacting independent artists,
she created a group of talented professional people who were happy to show their
work to the public, but the main idea of the project was not only to show work already
done by the artists, but also to awaken the hidden artistic talent in the souls of
our visitors. To make it possible, an empty canvas was placed in the heart of the
exhibition, with paints and brushes on the side to be used by visitors. By exhibiting
their work, artists encouraged the visitors to take part in creating an irreplaceable
piece of art. The name of every single person who left their mark on the canvas was
also placed in the book of artists responsible for the painting. The exhibition aims
to promote, discover and support imaginative and vibrant practice in contemporary
painting. There are already two canvasses painted by “every day people”: one painted
at the Menier Gallery, London and the second one at the “Form and Colour Gallery”
in Warsaw. It is amazing how different the images are. Looking at the canvasses you
can almost read the “state of mind” of the individual countries. You can see the
sadness and the happiness of general public expressed in different colors and shapes
influenced by the culture of where they live.
We are trying to keep the project going and to do the same experiment in different
places in the world. After collecting paintings made by many nations, we are going
to organize an auction where the works of “people of the world” (with out doubts
it is going to be extremely collectible piece of art)could be sold for charitable
causes, at the same time giving the chance to ordinary people to leave their mark
in the history of art.
