An article I recently wrote for The Bay Window...
Art Prize, 2014 by most standards was a huge success.
The streets and stores were teeming with the curious and the art lovers on the
final weekend of the event. From grandpas to stroller riding infants, everyone
was on the hunt for art. We all know and by most counts have seen the pictures
of the winners. Just in case you have not, check them out at the following
website;
http://www.artprize.org/blog/2014-artprize-awards-announcement
Many other works of art generated ideas about the world
around us…a few are shared here.
The Last Supper in the D.P.R.K.
is artist Jason Roger’s view of the North Korean dynasty. The
major players in the regime are over-laid in a setting similar to Leonardo
daVinci’s Last Supper with Jesus and the Apostles. His explanation and comparison is thought
provoking. He says, “I seek to utilize artistic expression as a means of
providing a cautionary visual narrative on the risks of authoritative
influence.”
We All Live in Gaza by
Maurice Jacobsen invades our space with photographs, sounds and videos of the
residents of Gaza. For a brief moment or two we can experience a small bit of
what life would be like to live
under siege for the past six years.
Chelsea Younkman a winner from last year, displayed Job
Fair 2, larger than life-size charcoal drawings on paper.
Showing corporate business people in a wide range of emotional distress speaks
to the vulnerability in all of us…regardless of where we work or what we do.
A bit of controversy surrounded ArtPrize 2014 when an
exhibiting artist indicated he would not accept prize money if he won but would
instead donate it to the LGBD Fund. Steve Lambert, an exhibiting artist,
protests the DeVos family influence in ArtPrize and their personally held
beliefs. Here’s an excerpt from his letter pledging to take a stand against the
moneyed influence of ArtPrize.
“I’M NOT KEEPING
THE MONEY.
Last week I learned I was a jury pick for ArtPrize in Grand Rapids.
Shortly after I found out I was on the short list for the public vote as well.
At that point I had a shot at the $200,000 public vote prize, the $200,000
juried prize, and a 1 in 4 chance of winning a $20,000 jury prize for my
category. It’s a lot of money.
I didn’t enter
ArtPrize with the hope of winning. I was curated into a show during ArtPrize. I
had heard a bit about the contest and decided to give it a chance and have the
piece reach an audience it may not otherwise. I was certain I had no shot at
winning. I liked that my piece was understood and appreciated by critics and
the public alike.
ArtPrize is hard to
explain. It’s a project of Rick DeVos, who comes from a very wealthy family.
How did they make that money? Founding Amway – Multi-Level Marketing,
which is a polite term for a pyramid scheme. They’re married into the
family behind Blackwater, the private military outfit. They’re against
unions and advocate for school voucher programs. They’ve been major donors to
Focus on the Family, Acton Institute, Heritage Foundation, the American
Enterprise Institute, and Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich’s campaigns. You may
have read that article I sent last week, or about their union busting and
plan to defund the Left in Mother Jones. (I encourage you to read them. It
made my choice much easier.)
What bothers me the
most is the DeVos family has, for generations, been on the wrong side of the
fight for civil rights for LGBT people. And they back their opinions with
millions in political money against civil rights. It’s a long story, but the
end is: they haven’t changed.”
In his letter, Christian supports ArtPrize and founders
in saying, “To ensure the long-term growth of this programming, the
ArtPrize board of directors, chaired by Rick DeVos, unanimously passed a
resolution in May of this year which specifically mandates programming
that takes action for equality and acceptance of the LGBT community, as
well as all underrepresented populations.”
ArtPrize 2014 offered something for everyone. If you
didn’t make it this year, you should certainly plan on attending it in 2015.
Regardless of your political, social or cultural
backgrounds and beliefs, as Pablo Picasso once said, “Art is the lie that
enables us to realize the truth.”
 |
| Job
Fair 2 by Chelsea Younkman |
 |
| The Last Supper in the D.P.R.K.
by Jason Roger |
