Discerning Eye 2026, the long-running London exhibition at the Mall Galleries, opens with six guest selectors – including actor Hugh Bonneville and The Standard's Culture Editor – each choosing around 120 works from an open call that drew 7,000 submissions. The free show runs from 13 to 21 November.
Selectors faced 7,000 submissions
Speaking at the private view, Hugh Bonneville said: "On behalf of the selectors, it was a lot of fun but hard work looking at 7000 works of art over two days. You get slightly snowblind but also very passionate and quickly detect each other's characters. We were quick to christen Martin, 'The Prince of Doom'…"
The nickname reflected the Culture Editor's choices, which included witches, skulls, goat heads, dead birds and a Jesus catapult. The selection process involved six selectors – Bonneville, artists Jasmine Pradissitto and Kelvin Okafor, art lawyer Jon Sharples, art critic Melanie Gurlis, and the Culture Editor – each picking works independently, with no committee consensus.
Each selector curates their own mini-exhibition
Chair Sarah Hall explained the concept: "Discerning Eye is a charity that both supports artists by introducing them to buyers at the exhibition, and we also provide educational and other initiatives to support artist. It's a selling exhibition and my understanding is Discerning Eye was timed just before Christmas in part to help artists with their income. So I like to think of this as an opportunity to do your Christmas shopping."
She added: "The unique founding concept is each selector chooses for themselves. There's no committee coming to a consensus, each selector picks what they like from the open submission, so in effect there are six mini-exhibitions here. It means it keeps it fresh and quite different each year."
Each work must be no longer than 50cm in any dimension, a rule designed so visitors can buy and carry art home.
Selectors see their picks in three dimensions
Seeing the selected works on the gallery walls for the first time, Bonneville said: "I feel very personally attached to all of them and I want them to go to nice homes. We only saw them in two dimensions on screens during selection – which is the simplest way of getting a shortlist – but to see them in three dimensions has been really fun. And also the size. Some that looked large are miniature and more powerful for being so."
He described his selections as "a nice variety", including close-ups of hands, solo shots, duos, animals and landscapes. "I'm really moved by the variety of styles. I hope it's a bit of optimism and fun, it's amazing to think of all these individual artists off doing their own thing in their own world."
Bonneville, who is considering buying pieces for his new hall and wants dark frames, predicted he would sell the most art in the judges' prize for highest sales. Jasmine Pradissitto said she had "no thought about it being a competition" and highlighted the importance of how pieces speak to one another, noting her industrial theme of "industry versus nature push and pull". Kelvin Okafor, known for hyper-real drawings, said his selection was "about 70 per cent monochromatic" and described his choices as "my babies".
Discerning Eye 2026 is free to visit at the Mall Galleries from 13 to 21 November, with works available to view and buy at www.discerningeye.org.
