Detail of Adonna Khare’s “Elephants” (2012), which won the public vote. (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)
Over 47,000 voters and a handful of art critics cast their ballots for ArtPrize 2012 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the winners of this year’s competition were announced on Friday, October 5.
Adonna Khare’s massive drawings of animals in Hieronymus Bosch-like scenes, “Elephants” (2012), was a popular favorite and won the largest purse at ArtPrize, $200,000. Her 30+ foot drawing was an obvious crowd pleaser and the constant stream of art viewers crowded around her work, which was on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, demonstrated the popular appeal of her work.
The Californian artist explained to the Associated Press that the drawing documents the last year and a half of her life. “The birth of my daughter, connections we all have with each other, loss, sickness, happiness, symbols of my history connected,” she said.
A detail of Design 99’s room installation at Site:Lab, “Displacement, 13208 Klinger” (2012).
The second largest prize, the juried award, is a new addition this year to ArtPrize’s “open art competition.” Mitch Cope and Gine Reichert, aka Design 99, snagged the $100,000 associated with the award for their room-sized installation in Site:Lab, “Displacement, 13208 Klinger” (2012). The project mounted a natural history museum-like display of the contents of one 900-sq-ft Detroit home. The duo often explore the intersection of contemporary art and architecture in their work.
This year, 1,517 artists from around the world took part in ArtPrize.
