The Artist and Venue Lists for ArtPrize’s Seventh Edition are Out

Jedediah Johnson, The Makeout Project.

The lists of participating artists and venues for the 2015 edition of ArtPrize, the giant international art competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan, have been announced. This year, a total of 1,649 artists from 48 countries and 42 U.S. states submitted 1,554 entries. Japan is represented with the highest number of participants.

The exhibition will spread across 162 venues across the city. Participating artists and their projects, which the public can vote via the ArtPrize website, include a site-specific multimedia installation by New Orleans artist Jane Cassidy that will take place on the underside of a bridge; a “Cadillac” of wheelchairs by California artist Cornell Smith at the DeVos convention center; and documentary photographs by Jedediah Johnson‘s “make-out project” at Fifth Third Bank Plaza will be on view, where the artist slathers lipstick on himself, kisses a participant, and snaps a photo.

Back for its seventh iteration, the competition will take place from September 22 to October 11. Two $200,000 prizes are awarded, one by popular vote and another decided by a jury. Last year, Indianapolis artist Anila Quayyum Agha took home the popular vote prize and split the juried prize with fellow artist Sonya Clark. Clark has since then received notice for a project in which she unravels a Confederate flag.

“The increase in international artist entries indicates how the role of ArtPrize has expanded, growing into one of the top art events worldwide, and we’re looking forward to seeing how this increase in international participants adds new dimensions to competition,” Kevin Buist, exhibitions director for ArtPrize, told artnet News in an email.

A $40,000 curatorial fellowship as well as a $30,000 grant program for local exhibition venues will also be featured at this year’s competition.


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