5th Crossing Annual Juried Exhibition

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Comment by kat murphy on May 3, 2010 at 12:26pm

Juror’s Statement

When I walked into the Hygienic to select work for the Annual Crossing exhibition, confronting me were over two hundred paintings, drawings, photographs, and other art objects – leaning against the walls, resting on folding tables, displayed on pedestals – on both floors. I walked through the upstairs rooms, then down to the basement galleries and looked hard at each individual piece.

Although the exhibition is traditionally presented without an overriding theme, I instinctively sorted the work into loose categories, as if I were curating several intimate group shows. Some pieces could have fit into several of my categories, but I didn’t want to make blandly obvious connections based on, say, choice of materials. Instead, I tried to imagine how one piece might inform another in unexpected ways, and sought to illuminate how conceptual content emerges from choice of imagery and materials. These, then, are the categories that I distilled:

Geometric Abstraction. Geometric form and structure will always have a profound resonance regardless of time period or geographic location.

The Body. Currently there’s a resurgence of interest in art that explores the body and the senses (as opposed to ideas and emotions). Some drawings included in the show are traditional mimetic renderings, but others, such as the First Prize winner, explore our evolving physical relationship to our environment.

Sentimental Narrative. These pieces evoke times past, either through use of color and materials or through choice of imagery.

Portrait. Who are we? Portraits aren’t necessarily about the subject depicted.

Gestural Painting. The process of making a painting, clearly evident in gestural work, is as important as the image created.

Loneliness. In the big picture, we come into the world alone and leave it the same way…right?

Water & The Sea. Living near the shore, some artists will always be moved to make images of the Sound, which provides many visual possibilities and enduring metaphors.

The Nest. Objects and images of domestic life can address universal truths about existential experience.

Conceptual Narrative. Objects, images, and processes may inspire intellectually complex and far-ranging considerations.

Constructed Objects. Objects created by combining elements in unexpected ways can impart ulterior meaning.

Place. Images of particular places aren’t necessarily about the landscape.

While one juror’s assessment inevitably has a substantial subjective dimension, I did try to judge the pieces with a set of reasonably principled guidelines in mind. When artists submitted more than one piece, I was able to contextualize their work and get a better sense of their overall direction, engagement, and focus. I avoided choosing work that I felt merely reiterated oft-used imagery without innovation, regardless how accomplished the technique may have been. In addition, I was put off by overly philosophical or poetic titles (particularly of abstract work) as excessively didactic, restricting the freedom of viewers to apply their own sensibilities and arrive at their own interpretations. Finally, a note on framing: less is more. In my view, frames should simply carve out some quiet space around the work, not attempt to become part of the imagery itself. Artists should stay away from fancy-colored mats and overly decorative frames unless they are integral to the original concept for the piece.

If these criteria sound fussy or overly fastidious, they belie the genuine pleasure I got in perusing some terrific works of art. I am grateful to have been accorded that privilege.


—Sharon Butler

April 21, 2010

Comment by kat murphy on May 3, 2010 at 12:25pm

Troy Zaushny--1st prize winner of the Charles Chu Award $500
Hygienic coop resident
New London, CT

Denny Rivera--2nd Prize Winner $350
Co-owner aticc boutique in new london
New London, CT

Joshua CJG Robinson--3rd Prize Winner $250
Providence, RI

17 honorable mentions

Ruth Sussler- new london, ct
Cathy Fosnot- new london, ct
Gwen Basilica- new london, ct
Tom Weigel- new london, ct
Dyer- new london, ct

Karli Hendrickson- mystic, ct
Eleanor Tamsky- mystic, ct

Karen Rand Anderson- stonington-ct

Gilbert Boro (2 honorable mentions) old lyme, ct

Richard Koehler- niantic, ct

Tim Egan- quaker hill, ct
Tammi Eller-quaker hill, ct

Tony Moriseini-columbia, ct
Pam Erickson- ivoryton, ct
David Schulz- middletown, ct
Michael Pinette- south windsor, ct

Richard Koehler- niantic, ct

Tim Egan- quaker hill, ct
Tammi Eller-quaker hill, ct