One hundred and fifty-five entrants from all over the United States entered 758 images competing for 53 spots. This year's juror, Brian Clamp, of ClampArt, NYC, selected the work of 43 photographers and artists in Richmond's only competitive, national photography exhibition.
Of those 43, Mr. Clamp selected the work of local photographers and artists Jingjing Gong, Janneke Kotte, and Jane Vaught for inclusion in this year's exhibition. Other selected entrants included are:
Mark Abrahamson, Myron Brenton, Lawrie Brown, Gloria DeFilipps Brush, Larry Chait, Polly Chandler, Lane Collins, Eddee Daniel, Billy Dodson, Sharon Dowis, Nicholas Fedak II, Peggy Fleming, Harry Giglio, Diana Greene, Tim Greyhavens, Jana Hallford, Amy Herman, Timothy Hospodar, Michael Koerner, Joseph Labate, Laurie Lambrecht, Dan Long, Jacob Lunow, Ellen Mahaffy, Monika Merva, Lynelle Miliate, Nathan Millis, Samuel Oberter, Nora Odendahl, Alison Overton, Larry Pratt, David Scherrer, Rick Short, Chris Silano, Veronica Smith-Hasenei, Brea Souders, Brenda Staudenmaier, Steven Strawn, Paul Weiner, and M. Laine Wyatt.
We extend our congratulation to all selected entrants and look forward to a wonderfully different and diverse show!
From the Juror...
"The task of choosing just fifty artworks from a selection of images so vast as those submitted to 12 12 Gallery’s National Juried Exhibition is always a challenge. Oftentimes one is pressed to compare apples to oranges; documentary photographs to digital exercises; fashion shots to nature imagery. Thus in the end, one is left with a group of powerful, but frequently unrelated photographs. A further challenge is the electronic submissions process convenient and practical, for sure, but also deficient in providing the juror knowledge of important information such as output selection, print quality, and scale.
That being said, I did attempt to judge the artworks based on a set of loose criteria, including not only technical proficiency (composition, light, etc.), but also sound conceptual foundation (whether or not the work responds to or reflects cognizance of artistic predecessors, or whether it stakes claim to new and relevant issues in the sphere of contemporary art). A good deal of attractive and impressive landscape and floral imagery, for instance, was not chosen for the exhibition for this reason. There is such a strong tradition of this particular genre it is, in my opinion, often a Sisyphean task to build upon that foundation in any sort of meaningful way."
"The awards selected largely reflect my interest in fresh vision and technical experimentation. They also represent submissions that were consistent and uniformly strong across all five photographs. (Five clearly related artworks are of more interest to me than a smattering of images from different bodies of work.) Those artists chosen for awards generally submitted images from a single project, and all five images clearly were of merit.
I wish to extend many thanks to gallery director, Martin McFadden, who meticulously prepared materials for my easy review, and especially to all the artists who submitted work for the competition. I very much hope this show can serve as motivation and encouragement for all the artists who submitted work to continue to produce imagery; and for them to persist thinking critically about and most importantly to enjoy the medium of photography, that which brings us all together at Gallery 12 12 in the first place!"
Brian Clamp, Clamp Art, NYC
Download the Juror Statement in PDF file format here.
Exhibition Details
Opening: September 28, 2007
Awards &Artist's Reception: September 30, 2007
Closing: November 4, 2007
12 12 Gallery is open : Thursday and Friday 12 - 4 PM
; Saturday 11 - 6 PM; Sunday 12 - 5 PM and every Fourth Friday until 10PM.
