Monday evening, the public had a chance to see what jurors are selecting- and how they are making their selections.
John Yau (2D juror), Hesse McGraw (3D juror) Rashida Bumbray (Time-Based juror), Evan Franch I Gilabert (Best Use of Urban Space juror) and Alice Gray Stites (Best Venue juror) each revealed their top five picks for their respective categories, and discussed how they came to the selections they made.
Yau, 2D juror and a poet and critic based in New York, has published over 50 books and is the editor of Hyperallergic Weekend.
"I want them to look at [2-D art] and be surprised. If they're surprised, and they have to walk out the door wondering what it was they saw, then something's happening- and that's the start," says Yau.
Yau selected Alexis Rockman's "Tropical Migrants" at Grand Rapids Art Museum, Kyle Staver's "Europa and the Flying Fish"Grand Rapids Brewing Company, Mary Rousseaux's "Series 28 Untitled #1," at DeVos Place Convention Center, Peter Crow's "Three and Four: Red, Yellow and Black" at Cathedral Square and Grand Rapids artist Rick Beerhorst's triptych "Rick Beerhorst Painting," at DeVos Place Convention Center.
"Everybody reads paintings differently," says Yau, "and for the artists it takes a lot of courage to put it out there because it's so easy to dismiss art and say 'oh my child can do that,' and this and that. And to kind of expose yourself over and over takes, I think, a lot of strength and courage,"
McGraw, 3D juror and curator, writer and artist working as curator at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska, called his experience in Grand Rapids incredible.
"Walking through the city with hundreds of thousands of other people invested in looking at art is such a phenomenal experience," says McGraw. "Think about the scale. It's bigger than the Super Bowl in terms of audience. This is a truly incredible event."
McGraw selected two works at SiTE:LAB: Carlos Bunga's "Ecosystem" and Julie Schenkelberg's "The Unfounded Future of the Untold." He also selected two works from Kendall College of Art and Design: Kevin Cooley and Phillip Andrew Lewis's "Through the Skies for You" and Charles Matson Lume's "The world's an untranslatable language II (for Charles Wright)." His final selection was Daniel Arsham's "Watching"at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
Bumbray, Time-Based juror and independent curator living and working in New York with recent work as Associate Curator at The Kitchen (2006-2012), says even before she arrived, she knew that ArtPrize was an event where people of all walks of life were engaging with contemporary art.
"It's really inspiring to see people of all walks of life engaging and excited about contemporary art, and wanting to put their own input into the conversation with their votes," she says.
Of her top five pieces, two were again from SiTE:LAB: Dance In The Annex (DITA) for their "Angle of Repose" and Arthur Liou's "Sonnet 27." Her second two selections were both from the Grand Rapids Art Museum: Shahzia Sikander's "The Last Post" and "Whispers of the Prairie" by Deanna Morse. Her final selection, found at Ah Nab Awen Park, was Maurice Jacobsen's "Facing Al Aqaba."
Franch I Gilabert, Best Use of Urban Space juror and director of Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City, also selected "Facing Al Aqaba. " Her other choices included David Kail's "Egg Prize" at Van Andel Arena, JD Urban's "united.states: an everyday people project"at Calder Plaza, Alexander Hanson and Daniel Feinberg's "Temporary's Pursuit of Permanence"on the Gillette Bridge and Henry Brimmer's "I want to be different … (ladder),"which can be found on Monroe Center by First Community Bank.
"Sometimes art is not the object itself," says Franch I Gilabert, "It's the time that it produces for us to seek what we would really like to encounter."
Stites, juror for the Best Venue category and Chief Curator and Director of Art Programming for 21cMuseum says her category is what she considers to be a curatorial award.
SiTE:LAB @ 54 Jefferson garnered another top five pick in the Venue category, accompanied by Kendall College of Art and Design , Grand Rapids Art Museum, Craft House and Auto Fixit Body Shop.
After revealing their top five selections, the jurors were given a chance to talk about their process as a group, and were asked to reveal any disagreements they may have.
"The conversation went into what is, in the year of 2013, the value of art," says Franch I Gilabert. "ArtPrize is going to be able to continue a conversation that we started."
The general public is invited to cast their own votes through this Saturday, September 28, when the first round of voting closes at the end of the day. To be able to vote, visit a registration booth at The Hub (41 Sheldon) or any Exhibition Center. You must register while downtown, but can then vote from anywhere: online, via text message, or utilizing a free smartphone app for for iPhone or Android.
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