There is always a different atmosphere in an exhibition where the work has been submitted by members of the public and lesser known artists.

It’s a bit like a student show. You dare not say anything negative just in case you’re stood next to the artist’s mother.  Despite this, open exhibitions do encourage people to do just that; be open and talk freely about the works, as there is no expectation to like or understand them.

Added to that, these are portraits of interesting people; people you actually want to stop and read about. Makes a nice change from skimming over why Kate Moss makes an interesting subject for a countless time. These people and their relationships with the artists you might actually relate to.   Amongst the exhibited pieces, chosen from some 1,900 submitted, are the prize winners opening the floor for debate. To which artist would you award a prize? Which piece would you take home?

Mine to take home and keep would be Hector Hernandez’s ‘Portrait of My Mother.’ Simply because I felt I could wake his mother from her snooze on the sofa with a cup of tea and enjoy her company. Just as I have done with my own mother many times.

If I can’t take this then I want the sketchbooks of Emmanouil Bitsakis- winner of the BP Travel Award 2008. His prize was funding for a trip to study the Uigar people- a community living in the Xinjiang Uigar Autonomous Region of China. His biro sketches are both beautiful and skilful. To use the term ‘doodle’ sounds derogatory, but the way they are scattered throughout his notes imply they’re simply warming him up to his equally beautiful paintings.

If for these superior doodles alone, this exhibition is absolutely worth an hour of anybody’s time, it’s free and open until September 20th. And afterwards why not pop round the corner to see who is awkwardly exhibiting themselves on the fourth plinth… http://www.npg.org.uk/bp-portrait-award-20091/the-exhibition.php