Free art to see in Brighton with climate change theme

The Open Market on Brighton’s London Road is hosting the An Ark in the UK installation, which consists of various "cabinets of creatures".

The exhibition is made up of boxes containing various animals, real or mythical, with two for each letter of the alphabet, a reference to Noah’s Ark.The exhibition can be seen at The Open Market

The exhibition was only supposed to be in the Open Market in May but proved so popular it is now staying indefinitely.

The exhibition has proven popular with the public

Most of the artists behind the cabinets are from Brighton, including George Coles, a photographer who created the concept as a comment on society and climate change.

The exhibition is to remain in place indefinitely

He made the wooden cabinets with his son for the first exhibition of An Ark in the UK in 2016 – although they had different contents back then.

The cabinets contain a variety of different pieces of art

George’s daughter made one of the boxes for the cabinets, and just as his family was involved in creating the art installation, he sees it as a family-friendly piece.

George Coles is behind the unusual exhibition

“It is designed with children in mind, they love the surprise behind the doors,” he said.

“I wanted to make people work to look at it rather than just stand there and view hence the idea of hiding the work behind the doors.

“It's not in a middle-class elitist art gallery and stands proudly amidst the cauliflowers and carrots."

The name of the exhibition is a Sex Pistols reference

George gathered artists, who he says are mostly “friends or friends of friends”, but gave them creative freedom.

A number of artists have contributed to the exhibition

The cabinets contain creatures ranging from the arctic fox to the jabberwocky and a velociraptor.

Artists have been invited to fill the cabinets in whatever way they see fit

One of the boxes contains the whale shark, created a Brighton-based artist Jessie Marie, who spent more than three weeks creating her art piece using bottle tops with sustainability in mind.

Jessie Marie is one of the artists involved in the exhibition

“There were over 100 bottle tops inside the box, each one individually filled with the right recycled materials to create the bigger picture, gluing, filling, painting, positioning, it was a big piece of work,” she explained.

Jessie, who creates and sells art made from bottle tops through her business Beau Bottle Tops, commented on An Ark in the UK being free to view: “It is of utmost importance to me that my art is accessible.

“As an emerging artist myself, I understand better than most the financial struggles of being an independent artist, and being able to broaden my horizons and light my motivation/educate myself by visiting free or low-cost exhibitions is really important.”

Jessie's piece features reused bottle caps

Jessie said she feels that the cost of living crisis has led to a drop in sales of her art.

She said: “People are not buying as freely as they were before because quite rightly they are worried to afford their gas and electricity or other essentials like food.

"Sadly, art has become a luxury that many cannot afford at a time like this.”