Two artists from Croydon are taking part in a major new exhibition taking place in Gdansk, Poland, in March.

Made in Britain consists of 82 works by painters based all over the UK, which form part of the Priseman Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting.

The collection includes works by the likes of Tracey Emin and David Hockney as well Susan Gunn, European Sovereign Painters Prize winner, and John Moores Prize winner, Nicholas Middleton.

It also includes paintings by local artists Geraint Evans and Lucy Cox.

Lucy says: “A long-term interest in relationships between colour, form and space drives my practice, so I am excited about exhibiting in Poland where 20th century painter Henryk Berlewi became one of the forerunners of optical art.”

For Geraint the show is going to be an ideal chance to test how his work is received by a different audience.

He says: “Although my painting 'A Zen Garden' is largely an imaginary scene, I see it as being located in a specific place in South London. Despite this specific locality, the painting speaks about broader themes and the opportunity to exhibit the work in Poland allows me to test the work’s ideas in a new context, to understand how the painting’s narrative is understood by an audience who have very different cultural reference points.”

The Priseman Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting was set up by Robert Priseman, an internationally acclaimed artist in his own right, who wanted to do something to promote the art of painting.

Robert says: “In 2014, I came to realise that many of this new wave of British painters had yet to be collected with the same geographical and chronological focus of their predecessors and foreign contemporaries. So, with the help of my wife, I began the process of bringing together a body of work by artists which followed the very simple criteria of being painting produced after the year 2000 within the British Isles.”

So far, the couple have acquired more than 120 paintings from over 100 artists, which has now become the very first collection of art dedicated to 21st century British painting in the UK.

Robert says: “The idea was to build up a collection of work that could then be offered up to galleries and museums all around the country. It’s basically a co-operative of artists to promote painting.

“What’s been great is having the well-known works beside lesser known artists because it has given them exposure in lots of new places where they might not necessarily have had it before.”

It’s been a labour of love for Robert who has already staged a number of exhibitions in China with the collection and hopes this latest show in Poland will lead to more across Europe.

The exhibition will run at the National Museum, Gdansk, Poland, from March 14 to June 2.