Philadelphia artist takes the inaugural $150K Wolgin Prize

You already know how I bitched about the fact that the jurors for this very generous prize really screwed up in their lazy elitism and ignored the fact that this prize was supposed to go to an emerging artist. Instead, as announced tonight in Philly and discussed in Philly.com:

Ryan Trecartin, a young Philadelphia painter and sculptor whose psychedelic, desultory, kitschy video work has found love among critics and collectors, has been given the first $150,000 top award in the Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts - one of the richest art prizes in the world.

... Trecartin's works have attracted wide attention, appearing at the 2006 Whitney Biennial, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Saatchi Gallery in London and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He recently was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, which carries a $60,000 cash award.

... Glahn said the competition would likely undergo refinement for its next round; it might be hard to call any of the three finalists an emerging artist, since all three have exhibited widely.

"What might change is our definition of what emerging is," he said.

Right... fit the mistake to the error so that from now on an "emerging artist" is someone who appears at the Whitney Biennial, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Saatchi Gallery, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, etc.

That's much easier to do (change the definition of emerging artist so that the next set of jurors picks another artist at the blue chip well-known level of Trecartin) than actually do what Mr. Wolgin wants and have the prize go to a fucking emerging artist.

Tyler University and Temple Gallery and Jack Wolgin: How about making the 2010 jurors work for real and earn their jury money so that from now on a prize supposed to go to emerging artists go to emerging artists. If you need to know how to do this, call me.

And congrats to Trecartin, who has no fault in this mess of a first year for the Wolgin Prize; at least the loot stayed home for Philly.

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 Winner

Tonight the National Portrait Gallery announced the winner of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 at the opening reception and the winner is photographer Dave Woody from Ft. Collins, CO. The exhibition will open to the public tomorrow Friday, Oct. 23 and will remain on view through August 22, 2010.


Erik by Dave Woody
Congrats to Dave Woody! You can see his portraits here.

The Killing of Dub


The Killing of Dub(h)
Charcoal and Conte on Paper Panels c.2009
10 feet by 4.5 feet
At ten feet long this is by far my largest drawing ever and (since it was a private commission) heading to a collection in San Diego (but I do have the much, much smaller study available for sale).

The drawing depicts the drowning of the Celtic witch Dub or Dub(h). She was married to the elf Énna and was very jealous. Upon learning that her husband Énna had taken a second wife named Áíde, Dub cast a spell on the second wife and drowned Áíde and all of her family. Seeing this, Áíde's servant threw a rock at Dub, hit her on the head and Dub fell into the same pool and also drowned. Dublin is named after the place where she drowned. Lin or Linn in Gaelic is "Pool" ("Dub" means "Black"). Thus Dub + Lin equals Dublin or Dub's Pool.

Click on the image for a larger version.

JRA and Washington Craft Show

Deadline to register: October 30, 2009

Join the James Renwick Alliance from Noon to 5:30pm on November 7, 2009 for an afternoon of craft and design with artist and collector-led tours of the Washington Craft Show that explore the criteria used to look at glass, ceramics, fiber, metal/jewelry, and wood as genres of collecting and for increased appreciation on the art form.

Participants will begin at a nearby gallery featuring work by an artist involved with the new textile design project that will be visited later in the afternoon. Artist and collector experts in specific craft mediums will give brief 3-point "this-is-what-to-look-at" talks about ceramics, glass, fiber, metal/ jewelry and wood before going to the Washington Craft Show. Light refreshments will be served.

Participants will then walk to the Washington Convention Center to tour the Washington Craft Show as part of a medium specific group. Each group will visit the booths of 2-3 artists working in that medium who will talk about their work. The tour part of the afternoon concludes around 2:45pm allowing the participants to enjoy the craft show and show events on their own.

From 3:30pm to 5:30 pm, participants are invited to a private reception near the Convention Center to view a private collection of studio furniture and ceramics, and to see the results of a three-week textile design experiment. Representatives of the sponsoring gallery and the artist will talk about the project concept.

Price: $30.00 for JRA members and $35.00 for non-members. Both prices include a ticket to the Washington Craft Show. $10 of registration fee supports JRA programs and is tax deductible.

Deadline to register: October 30, 2009
Group sizes are limited

To register please contact the James Renwick Alliance office.

Wanna go to a gallery opening tomorrow?