2009 Visual Arts Fellowship Awards and Student Awards of Excellence
In addition, I am honored to partake in a new chapter of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s fellowships—the inclusion of awards for two students at undergraduate or graduate level. Considering this is the first year for this award, the field of artists was modest. Nonetheless, I was impressed by the caliber of artists that applied. In this category, I select artists Riley Harmon and Joshua Meier as this year’s award recipients. Their work (new media and photography respectively) is visually sophisticated and conceptually rigorous. Take heed, their careers will be ones to watch! In closing, I would like to thank all of the artists participating in this year’s fellowship competition. Your work brought me much pleasure and reminded me that smart work is being produced everywhere. I believe it. Christopher Cook Curator Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
On the cover: (Top) Frank Wick, Norman, Nobody Said Life Was Fair, Braille text spelling: Nobody Said Life Was Fair, painted fiberglass, 6’x8’. (Bottom) Kathleen Rivers, Ada, Wrapper, Maps, stamps, paper scraps, old books, candy wrappers on paper, 42”x58”
730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Ste 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116
Now, after carefully reviewing the artist submissions of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship, I am thrilled to discover that, like Missouri, Oklahoma is peppered with exceptional artists. Certainly, I am very pleased to be exposed to the diverse visual interests, formal skills, and socio-political concerns of the artists that currently reside in Oklahoma. My charge as guest curator to select only two fellowship recipients was not an easy one. In fact, there were numerous applicants that deserve special recognition even though, in the end, they fell short. In no particular order, the painted-wood constructions by Nicholas Bayer are an interesting amalgamation of pop aesthetics and folk sensibility that reflect ambiguous social power structures. Moreover, the intelligent paintings
and installations of Liz Roth address timely issues of consumerism, ecology, and sustainability. Artists Tommy White, Angela Piehl, Curtis Jones, Narciso Argüelles, and Tracy Harris also deserve special attention for their extraordinary artistic merit. In the end, however, I was most captivated by the complex collages of found detritus by Kathleen Rivers and the witty and provocative sculptures of Frank Wick. In many ways, the works by these two artists speak to the individual and the collective by subtly distilling the enigmatic nature of the human condition.
OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS COALITION
a mus e um curator specializing in contemporary art, I feel privileged, and humbled at times, to have the opportunity to travel and experience art, to engage and collaborate with practicing artists, and to actively participate in the collective world of ideas. During my career of looking at art—high and low, far and near—I am constantly amazed of the great proliferation of advanced ideas and creative practices that comprise the art communities thriving beyond the familiar centers of the art world, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, and Paris, among others. This perhaps should come as no surprise considering the truly global existence that defines contemporary society. Indeed, I was completely surprised (and elated) when I moved to Kansas City three years ago to find myself in the throes of a vibrant community of visual and performing artists and, with time, I soon learned that the entire state of Missouri was bubbling with serious artists actively shaping our visual culture. As
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Curator’s Statement
OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS COALITION www.ovac-ok.org | 4 0 5 . 8 7 9 . 2 4 0 0
OKLAHOMA VISUAL ARTS COALITION Creating opportunities, connecting resources and catalyzing motivation for artists.
OVAC is one of the largest visual artists organizations in Oklahoma and supports artists’ entrepreneurship through curated exhibitions, skill building workshops and awards. The Visual Arts Fellowship Awards and Student Awards of Excellence are intended to reward qualified artists with outstanding vision and are chosen by a guest curator from applications submitted by the artists.
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Fellowship award Kathleen Rivers, Ada
Student AWard of excellence Riley Harmon, Shawnee
Student Award of excellence Joshua Meier, Claremore
Fellowship award Frank Wick, Norman
Kathleen Rivers is Associate Professor of Fine Art at East Central University in Ada. She received her MFA from University of South Carolina. Her artwork is inspired by memories of home and travel. Intricate collages representing nests are made up of papers and other items that were fated for a trash bin, woven together as a bird weaves and constructs their home.
Riley Harmon recently graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BFA in Media Art and will pursue an interdisciplinary MFA from Carnegie Mellon University in the fall of 2009. Harmon works in a variety of forms and materials with his current work informed by topics in psychology, philosophy and computer science. His creative activities originated in theatrical performance, visual effects and film, from which he became fascinated with the suspension of disbelief. Working in information technology, he is particularly interested in the dichotomy of physical and virtual experiences, philosophical concepts of authenticity and thresholds.
Joshua Meier is currently working towards an MFA in Photography/Printmaking at the University of Tulsa. He has BFA degrees in Studio Art from Rogers State University, Fine Art Photography from the Rocky Mountain School of Photography and in Art and Language from Stanislas College in Holland.
Frank Wick received his MFA in sculpture from the University of Miami, an MA in design from the University of Iowa and a BFA in sculpture from the University of Iowa. His artwork has been exhibited across the country and internationally. Wick uses humor in his installations and conceptual pieces as a way to engage audiences in his commentary on life and the world around him.
“The collages reflect memories,” said Rivers. “A tapestry of experience, woven together to form a complex dense structure that reflects a life lived. They are poems; the nests become a form of black hole within which to lose oneself.” w w w. kateri v ersart.c o m
1 | Kathleen Rivers, Ada, Skin, maps, stamps, paper scraps, old books on paper, 42”x58” 2 | Kathleen Rivers, Ada, Studio View, December 2008
w w w. rile y harm o n .c o m
3 | Riley Harmon, Shawnee, What It Is Without The Hand That Wields It, Acrylic Glass, Medical Bags, Electronics
In his most recent artwork, a series called Stasis and (re)Development, Meier photographs tracts of land that were once left to nature but are now being reinvented by bulldozers and backhoes. He then takes those photographs and alters them into a new object altogether, turning what was once a barren piece of land into an image that may resemble the grain of wood, the bark of a tree or even the human figure.
“Times demand a humor that’s more humorous,” Wick said in his artist statement. “Stuff that’s strategically pointed. It’s the only way to break through the hubris and strict boredom of organized living. It’s the only way to achieve a vibrating life.” w w w. o vac g aller y.c o m
4 | Joshua Meier, Claremore, Stasis and (re)Development: Birthplace, Archival Pigment Print, 44”x55”
6 | Frank Wick, Norman, WWJD (9-5), saw-horse, Christmas tree lights, timer set to operating from 9-5 weekdays
5 | Joshua Meier, Claremore, Wiman’s Harvest, Silver Gelatin, 20”x24”
7 | Frank Wick, Norman, Pratfall, the artist’s shoes with painted text