Manchester National Juried Fine Art Exhibition 2009: Award Winners

The third annual MNJFAE 2009 opened at 12 12 Gallery on Sunday, June 28th, 2009. The All Media exhibition  features 71 works from 40 artists selected by juror Andrea Pollan, Director and Curator of the Curator's Office, Washington, D.C.  Over 400 entries were submitted by 123 artists from across the US and Canada. In attendance were Jane Vaught (Richmond, VA), Alex Graebic (Farmville, VA), Jordi Williams (Lynchburg, VA), Amy Carmichael Smith (Silver Spring, MD)and Erwin Barona (Ontario, Canada).

Juror Andrea Pollan said of the show:

It is always a pleasure and an honor to be asked to jury an exhibition, particularly a national one as it is impossible to get around the country and see this much work in such a concentrated fashion. Small works carry their own gem-like intensity. The scale of small works calls for particular skill in rendering an image legible. Of the 415 works submitted, I culled it down to the 71 works on view. The last stages of selecting an exhibition are always the most difficult as one inevitably sacrifices some good work. Clearly artistic quality was the primary consideration in my selections. Generally I was trying to avoid work that looked too commercial, prosaic, or clichéd, given my background as a contemporary art curator. 

In addition to painting, drawings, and prints, this exhibition presents quite a bit of photography because there were numerous strong photographic submissions. Actually, almost 2/3 of the show is photography. Some may consider this a bias on my part, although I consider myself an equal opportunity curator for all media. It was clear that this show attracts good photographers, and the medium has taken its place as one of great importance since its inception in the 1830s, but it has had a long art historic battle to get here. 

The awards include works in all media. First prize goes to the extremely tight and powerful photographic composition by Gesche Wuerfel. I also admired its conceptual conceit, titled as it was by longitude and latitude. I awarded Second prize to the witty and eccentric drawings of Art McSweeney, whose work has a its finger on the pulse of a collective anxiety about the mechanization of the world. Third prize goes to the haunting portrait of a sister by Maron Resur. The acidic colors emphasize the internalized melancholic psychological stat of the model. Fourth prize goes to Jane Vaught for her formalist Denkmal series of photographs. These convey the authority of structure and direction with a poetic eye. Honorable mentions go to painters Claire Feng for her simple lush painterly portrait of a man with a beard and Leslie Lusardi for her alternate take on the landscape/cityscape tradition and how we mostly experience these in transit in contemporary life.

We heartily congratulate this year's award winners and feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to show their work along with so many other talented and dedicated artists.  This year's award winners and the work for which they were awarded are listed below.

 

Best In Show($500)

Gesche Wuerfel

"N 51°30.806 - W000°00.066"

Digital C-Print

 

Second Place ($250)

Art McSweeney

"Saint and Dragon"

Graphite, Ink Wash, Watercolor on Paper

 

Third Place ($150)

Maron Resur

"Sister 3"

Oil and Acrylic on Canvas

 

Fourth Place ($100)

Jane Vaught

"Denkmal Series"

Inkjet Prints

 

Honorable Mention

Claire Feng

"Maryland Man with Beard"

Oil on Canvas

 

Honorable Mention

Leslie Lusardi

"Cal/Train Commute Series"

Oil on Canvas

To see all the work chosen for the 2009 Manchester National Juried Fine Art Exhibition, kindly follow this link.

The exhibition continues through August 1st, 2009 followed by an exhibition of collage and assemblage by The Virginia Collage Society opening August 23, 2009.

12 12 Gallery, South Richmond's Fine Art Gallery, is located at 12 East 12th Street, in the John B Anderson House, just east of Hull Street. Gallery hours are Thursdays and Fridays 12-4, Saturdays 11-6, and by appointment.