For the next 18 days, right here, in River City, ArtPrize 2011 will dominate many of our citizens with a sense of euphoria that one could plot on a scale between a rainbow-covered carriage ride pulled by unicorns and a confab facilitated by the local chapter of ‘Art School Graduates for Truth.’
Again this year, I looked at all 1582 submissions at all 164 venues. It’s an axiom in art school that the documentation is often better than the work. So, this time, instead of picking a bunch of individual artists, I chose venues that, at least on paper, seem to have a strong curatorial agenda towards selecting high quality, professional, contemporary work while also the respecting the intent of each artist regardless of media.
So, here is a list of 9 venues I plan on visiting first. I had hoped this list would be longer, but that is for another post. These venues may not be on your list. Feel free to politely add what you find in other venues in the comments below and I will make every effort to check them out.