The Oxford Art Society is making headlines again with OAS artist Tom Croft BEM appearing on BBC1 tomorrow night (Sunday March 27) in an exciting new series with Tinie Tempah called ‘Extraordinary Portraits’.
Ruth Swain also appeared on the latest Sky Portrait Artist of the Year and you can see both artists’ work in the flesh along with a fantastic range of other well known and emerging artists’ work in Oxford Art Society’s exciting new exhibition starting today at The Kendrew Barn Gallery in St Giles, in the heart of central Oxford.
Tom’s painting that he is showing in the OAS members exhibition was auctioned on Instagram and raised over £1000 for The Disasters Emergency committee, with the money raised going to The Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
The Kendrew Barn Gallery is a beautifully appointed collection of galleries arranged around a courtyard with easy access from St Giles. The exhibition is open daily from 11am to 6pm until April 10.
With many of the works on sale, there will be an opportunity to meet artists in the gallery, including chairman Lucy Stopford, who has been pre-selected for the Royal Society of Portrait Painters along with Tom Croft.
Robert Strange, has been selected to be a member of the Pastel Society and is a finalist in Oxford Invitational Art contest 2022, and Ruth Swain won The Liberty Art Prize getting a commission to be hung in The Walkie Talkie building (20 Fenchurch street) in London.
“The annual Oxford Art Society Members’ Exhibition promises to be another very exciting and memorable event and a very good reason to visit Oxford this March.We look forward to seeing you there,” Ruth Swain adds.
Those tuning in tomorrow night can also see Thomas Croft, the artist behind Portraits for NHS Heroes, meeting Mark, a former Royal Marine who survived an explosion during a foot patrol in Afghanistan in 2007.
The injuries Mark sustained resulted in a triple amputation – he lost both legs and his right arm. Despite this traumatic experience, Mark is now a charitable fundraiser, a mentor and role model to other amputees and an ambassador for the Royal Marines Association.
Thomas is renowned for his ability to tap into the emotions of his subjects, and together he and Mark explore how we perceive bravery, masculinity and family.
The annual Oxford Art Society Members’ Exhibition runs at The Kendrew Barn Gallery from March 26-April 10 https://oxfordartsociety.co.uk/exhibitions/
Tom Croft appears on Extraordinary Portraits tomorrow night at 6.30pm https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015xj8
