Click here to see photos of the Opening Reception at the 117 Gallery on Friday, April 10 and some of the artwork in the show
117 GALLERY: ART NOW: New Directions in Contemporary Painting
– April 10 to May 24 –
Click here to find location and hours of the 117 Gallery
Check out the Ann Arbor Observer’s review of this show
Art Now: Painting 2015 is the inaugural exhibition of the Ann Arbor Art Center’s new Art Now Series. Each year, on a rotating basis the AAAC will present a media-focused exhibition in its Art Now Series. Media will include Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture/3D and Painting.
The Art Now Series is an expansion of The Print. This Series creates focus on other media as well as printmaking. AAAC wishes to offer heartfelt thanks to Al and Karen Gallup who initiated The Print in 1982 as a Memorial to Janet Gallup. They have sponsored The Print since its origin and will continue to sponsor The Print and its new partnership with other media, in the Art Now Series.
Painting in 2015 is characterized by its inclusiveness of genres, styles, aesthetics, concepts, materials, and processes. There is no single direction, but multiple vectors of highly energetic artistic expression. The result is a continuing flowering of independent, eclectic, and significant art works that characterize the American art scene.
Contemporary painting is unabashed about borrowing, whether using and referencing elements form classical painting for design or integrating found materials. Some streams of painting have adopted the punch of graphic design used in commercial advertising. Other streams emphasize strong personal visions and narratives or broader culture events as a focus for powerful imagery. Subject matter is anything about which the artist feels passion and significance.
Contemporary artists also paint on a variety of surfaces from Mylar to dry wall. Color can come from the grain of a wooden surface, spray and house paint, natural substances, such as dyes, stains, even motor oil. Paint is is also applies in nonconventional ways. It is dripped out of cans, sprayed, squeezed out of tubes, printed from pallets, and scraped on. Finally, contemporary painting is becoming more integrated with other arts, such as drawing photography, sculpture, installation and video. Where it will end is anyone’s guess. For this exhibit, Painting 2015, artists are invited to explore their personal vision and process of contemporary painting.
Calendar
Entries Submission Deadline: Sunday, March 15
Accepted Works Drop-Off Deadline: Sunday, April 5
Opening Reception (and Announcement of Winners): Friday, April 10
Exhibition Closes: Sunday, May 24
Pick-up of Work: June 1-2
Awards
Best of Show – Al & Karen Gallup Award: $500
Second Place: $200
Third Place: $100
Two Honorable Mentions
Juror
This year’s juror is Peter Williams. Peter is a full professor of art at the University of Delaware where he teaches painting. Peter has degrees from Maryland Institute College of Art (MFA 1987) and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (BFA 1975). He has had 17 solo exhibitions, and has participated in over 80 group exhibitions nationally and internationally. His work can be found in many private and public collected including; the Walker Art Center, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Whitney Museum of Art. He has received numerous awards, grants and fellowships including the McKnight Foundation, the Ford Foundation and recently the Joan Mitchell Foundation – numerous state arts grants, most recently the Delaware Division of the Arts. His work has been reviewed in many national and international publications and newspapers such as; Art in America, Teme Celeste, The New Art Examiner, Art News, The Detroit Free Press to name but a few. He has lectured at many institutions; University of California, University of South Florida, University of Connecticut, Cranbrook Academy. His work engages issues of cultural identity through representation of and as the “other” through a variety of narrative formats. His work was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial.
Read a review from the Toledo Area Artsists
Eligibility
Artists may submit a maximum of three entries. For this exhibit painting can be interpreted widely. Artists working with new genres such as installation, digital process, or collage are welcome to apply, as well as artists who work with traditional paint medium. Entries must incorporate paint in some capacity. All work should be created within the last two years. Works submitted must have not been previously shown in any competition at the AAAC.
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