An eclectic mix of items can always be seen at the annual New Contemporaries show. From fairly traditional stuff to outlandish nonsense – it makes for a satisfying anticipation of discovery. Practically all the work is for sale, and I find it entertaining noting the presence of red dots as a signal of what’s hot and what’s not when it comes to the public’s willingness to part with cash. What’s not is just about anything which obviously shouts ‘I need to be seen in a gallery.’ What’s hot is stuff that says ‘I would look nice in your hallway.’ Perhaps these are the two basic types of artist. Those that sell and those that don’t (although a minute few in the former category may become megastars). Let’s take some examples, first the sellers. Jack Dunnett paints small imaginary scenes in oils; Hannah Mooney paints small figurative scenes – mainly landscapes – in oils; David Rae paints with great precision landscapes in oils. If I recall, they were all award winners as well as top sellers. Or should I say, practically the only sellers. In mitigation, the other artists may do better – I visited the show only three days after it opened, so there may be more red dots to come. Of course, this is not the way to judge a show. How facile! A red dot is no measure of merit, no clue to the processes of imagination. And there was plenty of imagination. I particularly enjoyed three other artists’ work. Amy Kim Grogan’s I don’t do performance art but my carrotsdo was a witty, inventive piece constructed of steel, silicone, plastic and an oscillating motor. The oversized, shivering carrots, as if hanging from a washing line could be nervous, or cold or excited. Or all three at the same time. But at £4000 a little out of my price range. More accessible in that regard was Breathing Plastic by Anne Mie Bak Andersen. Made from a fan and Sainsbury’s plastic bags, controlled by an interval timer, the bags inflated and deflated as if breathing. A very simple but effective construction which was part of the artist’s line in environmental art. Once again incorporating moving parts. I always like things with moving parts. A snip at £250, or you could make your own for the price of an electric fan and 50p or so for the bags. I hope she has copyrighted the idea. Lastly a mention of Jonita Karablikova who is an architecture graduate. It’s one of the interesting features of this show that architecture mingles with art, erasing any dividing line. Karablikova’s Place of Truth and Reconciliation is a series of seven approximately three feet tall buildings/sculptures/shapes, made from simple materials and in perhaps what you might describe as a modernist style. With clean square lines, perhaps Le Corbusier comes to mind, except appropriately these are buildings without walls.