Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue announced the winners of the Artadia Awards 2012 Houston at the Texas Contemporary Art Fair.
10 finalists were chosen from among nearly 200 applicants living and working in Harris County. 45 minute studio visits were conducted with each of the ten by a distinguished national panel of jurors comprised of Michelle White, viagra buy Curator, viagra The Menil Collection, Houston; Patrick Charpenel, Director Jumex Foundation/Collection, Mexico City; and Naima Keith, Assistant Curator, The Studio Museum Harlem, New York.
$15,000 Awardees
Jillian Conrad
When creating her sculptures, structures, and installations, Jillian Conrad employs a variety of media—wood, Plexiglas, rocks, sheets of foam, and carpet remnants. Conrad’s work points to the failure of language, imperfect translations, and a multiplicity of meanings. A Rhode Island School of Design 2004 MFA graduate, Conrad’s work has been exhibited nationally, with her most recent solo show “Splits” at Devin Borden Gallery, Houston, TX. Conrad has been the recipient of several grants, including the Eliza Grant, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2008–10, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant in 2007.
Carl Suddath
Using wood and plastic, lacquer and ink, Carl Suddath’s sculptural works are outwardly modest, undemanding, and elegant. Of his work Suddath states, “NEAR TO SOMETHING AND NOTHING AND SOMETHING.” A School of The Art Institute of Chicago 2004 MFA graduate, Suddath attended the Core Residency Program at the Glassell School of Art, Houston, TX. Suddath’s work has been shown at a variety of venues, including Inman Gallery and Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX.
$5,000 Awardees
Francesca Fuchs
Working on a series of paintings of framed paintings, prints, and photos that hang in her house, Francesca Fuchs begins with personal history, focusing on an individual experience, rather than an art historical system of worth. Fuchs’s work has been exhibited at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX, with her most recent solo show, “Paintings of Paintings,” at Talley Dunn Gallery, Dallas, TX. Fuchs was the recipient to the Hunting Art Prize in 2006.
novel “Three Kingdoms of China”), 2011, Jong soon Im
Jong soon Im
Interested in presenting battles between ancient armies from past eras as unattainable fantasy, Jang soon Im creates mixedmedia paintings, drawings, collages, and videos of war scenes. Im states, “The lightness of my copied and pasted source images, and the artificiality of Styrofoam and cardboard, play to the fictional nature of my source material.” Im received a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2010. Im’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including a solo show at the Gallery La Mer in Seoul, South Korea. Im was a resident at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE.
Seth Mittag
Skillfully handcrafted sculptures populate animations with broken narratives by Seth Mittag, who combines sculptural expertise with his experience working as a professional puppet maker and his love of storytelling. Having received a MFA from the University of Houston in 2003, Mittag’s work has been exhibited nationally and was included in the 2005 Texas Biennial. Mittag was the recipient of a Lawndale Art Center Studio Residency, Houston, TX in 2011, and a Cultural Arts Council Houston Individual Artist Grant, Houston, TX in 2005.
Artadia Founder and President Chris Vroom added, “This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Artadia Houston awards. We’re proud to be part of this vibrant cultural community and to help showcase the diversity of artistic practice to our global audience. Houston’s museums, nonprofits, cultural and educational institutions, galleries, and artists make this one of the most exciting art centers in the world.”
Applications for the Artadia Awards were open to visual artists in all media, at any stage of their career, who work and live in Harris County, TX. The application was available online for two months from August 1 to September 24, 2012. For more information head to artadia.org.
