The International Association of Art Critics which is headquartered in New York have announced their awards for the 2014-2015 year. AICA-USA’s membership comprises the largest national section of AICA International: over 400 distinguished critics, curators, scholars, and art historians working throughout the United States. AICA-USA is intent on international communication, elevating the values of art criticism as a discipline, and acting on behalf of the physical and moral defense of works of art.
AICA-USA organises several annual events: a distinguished critic lecture at the New School in New York, a panel discussion about art criticism topics at the College Art Association convention, an annual awards ceremony honoring exhibitions in museums and commercial galleries, and tours to artists’ studios in emerging art neighborhoods. We collaborate with hosting organizations to present topical seminars, panels, and discussions, and partner with Cue and Warhol Foundations to operate mentorship programs for young critics. Each year, in a widely covered event, AICA-USA presents museums, galleries and alternative spaces with Best Show awards, and is the only organization to award excellence in museum and gallery exhibitions. It does so to indicate the standards by which its members judge what they see. An active Professional Issues Committee concerns itself with working conditions for critic, and an Advocacy Committee investigates issues of concern to the profession and advises the board and the membership on actions to take.
Here are the Awards
1) BEST PRESENTATION IN AN ALTERNATIVE VENUE (alternative space, public art, project space, or university gallery)
1st Place
Kara Walker: A Subtlety / Domino Sugar Factory, Brooklyn, NY / Creative Time
2nd Place
Greer Lankton, LOVE ME / Participant Inc., New York, NY
2) BEST TIME-BASED FORMAT (performance, video film, sound)
1st Place
Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors / Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
2nd Place
Mary Reid Kelley: Working Objects and Videos / Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY / Curated by Daniel Belasco
3) BEST SHOW IN A COMMERCIAL SPACE IN NEW YORK
1st Place
Nancy Grossman: The Edge of Always, Constructions from the 1960s / Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY
2nd Place
Robert Rauschenberg: The Fulton Street Studio, 1953–54 / Craig F. Starr, New York, NY
4) BEST SHOW IN A COMMERCIAL SPACE NATIONALLY
1st Place
Mickalene Thomas: I was born to do great things / Kavi Gupta, Chicago, IL
2nd Place
Hiroshi Sugimoto: Acts of God / Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA
5) BEST MONOGRAPHIC MUSEUM SHOW IN NEW YORK
1st Place
Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs / MoMA New York, NY / Curated by Karl Buchberg and Jodi Hauptman
2nd Place
Robert Gober: The Heart Is Not a Metaphor / MoMA, New York, NY / Curated by Ann Temkin
6) BEST MONOGRAPHIC MUSEUM SHOW NATIONALLY
1st Place
Pierre Huyghe / Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA / Curated by Jarrett Gregory
2nd Place
Dear Nemesis, Nicole Eisenman / Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis; ICA, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA / Curated by Kelly Shindler
7) BEST THEMATIC MUSEUM SHOW IN NEW YORK
1st Place
From the Margins: Lee Krasner and Norman Lewis / The Jewish Museum, New York, NY / Curated by Norman L. Kleeblatt and Stephen Brown
2nd Place
Italian Futurism, 1909–1944: Reconstructing the Universe / Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY / Curated by Vivien Greene
8) BEST THEMATIC MUSEUM SHOW NATIONALLY
1st Place
Fiber: Sculpture 1960-Present / ICA Boston, Boston, MA / Curated by Jenelle Porter
2nd Place
Neo-Impressionism and the Dream of Realities: Painting, Poetry, Music / The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC / Curated by Cornelia Homburg
9) BEST CRITICISM
1st Place
Holland Cotter / The New York Times
2nd Place
Jed Perl / New York Review of Books / “The Cult of Jeff Koons” and “You Can’t Catch Picasso”
10) BEST ART REPORTING
1st Place
Jillian Steinhauer / Hyperallergic
2nd Place
Randy Kennedy / The New York Times