ARTHOUSE TEXAS PRIZE 2005
September 10 – November 13, 2005
www.arthousetexas.org
ARTHOUSE TEXAS PRIZE 2005:
Eileen Maxson, Robyn O’Neil, Robert A. Pruitt and Ludwig Schwarz
Arthouse presents the inaugural exhibition of the $30,000 Arthouse Texas Prize featuring works by Eileen Maxson, Robyn O’Neil, Robert A. Pruitt and Ludwig Schwarz—on view September 10 through November 13, 2005, and organized by Regine Basha, adjunct curator at Arthouse. The prize will be awarded at Arthouse’s annual gala on November 4, 2005.
Chosen from 129 nominations offered by a select group of art world professionals, each finalist represents a Texas-based artist who has produced a significant body of work in past two years. The award recognizes innovation, talent and a marked contribution to a thriving Texas art scene. The video and installations of Eileen Maxson (Houston) investigate the role of sentiment in the mass media and entertainment industries. The graphite drawings of Robyn O’Neil (Houston) address contemporary alienation and violence through the symbolic power of landscapes. Issues of race and cultural identity in commercial pop culture are explored by artist Robert A. Pruitt (Houston). And Ludwig Schwarz’s (Dallas) paintings and installations question the machinery of capitalism and other possible roles for art in every day life.
The Arthouse Texas Prize , is the first statewide prize of its kind for contemporary art, and it will be presented biannually. The Arthouse Texas Prize 2005 jury was chaired by Arthouse Executive Director Sue Graze and includes James Elaine, Curator, Hammer Projects, UCLA Hammer Museum of Art; Vernon Fisher, artist, Fort Worth; Dave Hickey, independent art critic and curator based in Long Beach and Las Vegas; Kathryn Kanjo, Executive Director, ArtPace, San Antonio; Shamim M. Momin, Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and Valerie Cassel Oliver, Associate Curator, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston.
The Arthouse Texas Prize Founders include Austin Ventures, Deborah Green, Ann and Fredrick Erck, Johnna and Stephen Jones, Jeanne and Michael Klein, Chris Mattsson and John McHale, The Mecom/Mullins Family, Mary and Chris Ozburn, Lora Reynolds and Quincy Lee, Julie and John Thornton, Ed Vaughan, Mary and Howard Yancy, The Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, the Still Water Foundation and Austin Ventures.
A catalogue, featuring essays by Austin-based attorney Robert Summers and Regine Basha, will accompany the exhibition. Summers chairs the Texas Art Collectors Organization and is a board member of the Center for the Advancement of the Study of Early Texas Art.
About Arthouse
Headquartered at the Jones Center in Austin, Arthouse is the oldest statewide contemporary art organization in Texas. Arthouse seeks to promote the growth and appreciation of contemporary art and artists in Texas. Through exhibitions and programs in Austin and statewide, Arthouse helps nurture artists’ careers and deepen public understanding of contemporary art.
The exhibition is sponsored by Jones Asset Management of Austin, and the Award Presentation Event is sponsored by Tejas Securities Group, Inc., also of Austin.
For more information on Arthouse Texas Prize, please visit www.arthousetexas.org or contact Virginia Jones at vjones@arthousetexas.org or tel. (512) 453-5312.
