CHARLESTON, SC.- The Gibbes Museum of Art announced the Short List of Finalists for the third annual Factor Prize. The Factor Prize, awarded annually with a cash prize of $10,000, acknowledges an artist whose work demonstrates the highest level of artistic achievement in any media while contributing to a new understanding of art in the South. The winner of the 2009 Factor Prize was photographer and digital montage artist Stephen Marc
Artists who work in, who are from, or who create work related to Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Virginia were nominated for the Prize online at www.factorprize.org through February 28, 2010. In early March, seven panelists reviewed the hundreds of applicants and narrowed the list to six artists. The seven panelists for the 2010 Factor Prize were philanthropists Elizabeth and Mallory Factor who established the prize; David Houston, Chief Curator of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art; Leslie King-Hammond, Founding Director of the Center for Race and Culture at the Maryland Institute College of Art; Holly McCullough, Chief Curator of Fine Arts and Exhibitions at the Telfair Museum of Art; Pam Wall , Associate Curator of Exhibitions and Interpretation at the Gibbes Museum of Art; and the 2009 winner Stephen Marc.
The six artists (profiled below) selected for the 2010 Factor Prize Short List of Finalists are Aldwyth, Radcliffe Bailey, Willie Birch, William Christenberry, Sally Mann, and Joyce Scott.
“This year’s finalists are an exceptional group of artists who represent the wide array of high-quality art being created in the southern region. Through the Factor Prize, the Gibbes continues its legacy of supporting contemporary artists while honoring the talents of artists working in and from the South,” said Angela Mack , Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Gibbes.
The winner of the 2010 Factor Prize will be announced on May 3 at a ceremony at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston . Nominations for the 2011 award can be made beginning June 1, 2010 on the factorprize.org website. The Factor Prize website not only serves as a nomination point for artists but it is also a publicly accessible online archive of information about Southern artists that can be used by curators, collectors, academicians, and the public.
Aldwyth
South Carolina artist Aldwyth has worked in relative seclusion for several decades. She creates intricate collages and assemblages, often monumental in scale, from found objects, appropriated images, text, and other elements. Aldwyth was recently honored with a major one-person traveling exhibition organized by the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston.
Radcliffe Bailey
A native of Bridgeton, New Jersey, Bailey lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he received his BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 1991. Greatly inspired by jazz music, he is best known for his mixed media works and site-specific installations that explore his personal background and the history of African Americans. Bailey’s work is included in the collections of many prestigious organizations including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the High Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Willie Birch
Birch is a painter, sculptor, and draftsman whose work draws upon African American culture and traditions in his native New Orleans . He earned his BA from Southern University in New Orleans and later received an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore . Birch’s work is included in the collections of numerous institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
William Christenberry
For over forty years, Christenberry has used his drawing, painting, sculpture, and photography as a means to document his home state of Alabama . A resident of Washington , DC , he has taught at the Corcoran College of Art and Design since 1968 and has been included in numerous one-person and group exhibitions and the collections of art museums across the country. Most recently, Christenberry was honored with a major one-person exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington , DC .
Sally Mann
Born and raised in Lexington , Virginia , Mann is best known for her intimate photographs of her family and her unique portrayal of the southern landscape. Using a hundred year old camera, she creates photographs from eight by ten inch wet-collodion glass plate negatives. Mann has exhibited her work throughout the world and is included in many prestigious collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York ; and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Joyce Scott
Scott, who resides in Baltimore , creates sculpture and installation pieces using a variety of techniques including weaving, quilting, beadwork, and glasswork. Her work addresses issues of gender, race, and class struggles particularly in the South. Scott earned her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and an MFA in crafts from the Institute Allende in Mexico .
