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Selection Committee

Artist: Rodger, Willie, RSA RGI DUniv · 1930-2018

Selection Committee

The artist was the first person to be elected to the new discipline of Printmaker when he was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Scottish…

The artist was the first person to be elected to the new discipline of Printmaker when he was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1989. On abolition of the Associate rank and the discreet disciplines of Painter, Sculptor and Printmaker to be replaced by the new generic discipline of Artist, he was elevated to full Academician rank in 2005.

The work is one of a number of tongue-in-cheek images produced by the artist around the theme of exhibitions, and provides a foil to his wood and linocut print ‘Look’ from the same gift. Here his inspiration was his experience sitting on various exhibition selection committees, where the submitted works would be paraded before the selectors who would cast their vote by a show of hands and thus determine the fate of the artwork. Whilst no specific committee is depicted, the subject matter was considered an appropriate one for the Royal Scottish Academy, which prior to the recent advent of digital submission and selection practised this time-honoured method of selecting its annual exhibitions.

The work may be unfinished.

© The Willie Rodger Art Trust