Awards Reception: October 2, 2018, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Winners of the competition will be announced during the awards reception on
Saturday, October 13, 2018, 7 to 9 p.m.
Portraiture’s usual objective for any artist is to consider the pursuit of external likeness within formal or conceptual explorations or reject it altogether. The traditional definition of portraiture is: “…a painting, sculpture, or other artistic representation, in which the face and its expression is predominant with the intent to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person.” The works included in this exhibit show a diverse and somewhat unconventional way of representing an individual while still falling into the general definition of portraiture.
Portraits have a strong history as a luxury good, however now they are more pervasive than any time in history. They are readily reproducible and ever-more accessible; photography has played a particularly vital role in the broader reach of portraiture. Most recently, the use of smartphones and the rise of social media have greatly intensified the scope of portraits in the form of snapshots and selfies.
This exhibit attempts to take us away from photography, the everyday accessible selfie to a time when painting, drawing and sculpting a person’s likeness was done over time and with training and skill.
Competition juror and renowned artist Jill Banks will select the finalists from the many submissions.
Award-winning impressionist Jill Banks really is on a mission to capture life on canvas. She chooses painting locations where she is most apt to encounter plenty of interesting subjects wandering in and out the scene. She travels everywhere with her easel, setting up in markets, on city sidewalks, in a restaurant or bar, at the farm to paint the animals as they wander around in the field. And when she’s not at her easel, Jill is still observing and taking in the world around her – figuring out ways to express life’s magic through her art.
Awards and rewards have been plentiful since Jill turned to art as a second career in 2003. They include being featured as an Artist to Watch in Southwest Art Magazine July 2017, a Best in Show in the September 2016 BoldBrush Painting Competition (out of 1440+ entries), three Best of Show awards at the Art League, two-time recipient of the Strauss Fellowship Grant from the Arts Council of Fairfax County, and a three-time finalist in the Artists' Magazine's Annual Art Competition. Expertise.com chose Jill for its list of the Top 9 Painting and Drawing Teachers in the Metro DC area. (She teaches multiple classes over three semesters through the Arts of Great Falls School.) Her paintings have also appeared in American Art Collector, Southwest Art, Fine Art Connoisseur, Elan Magazine (cover art 3 times, 2 feature articles), Art of the West, VivaTysons and the Washington Post.
When Banks is not out and about at a plein air festival or on a painting excursion elsewhere, she can often be found at the Artists’ Atelier, the studio she shares with 10 fellow artists in Great Falls, Virginia.
Congratulations to the following individuals who have had their work chosen to be displayed during this exhibit!
Mark Anderson
Jeanmarie Bates-Wolf
Craig Brodfuehrer
David Calobrisi
Pam Coulter
Christine Dixon
John Duke
CinCin Fang
Elizabeth Floyd
Margriet Grant
Samantha Hand
Roya Honarvar
Vivianna Irizarri
Adam Johnson
Marcia Klioze
Cathleen Lawless
Joyce Lee
Benisse Lester
Michela Mansuino
Caleb Mathews
Kate Miller
Sarah Perez
Patricia Rice
Jennifer Rutherford
Ruth Sievers
Lis Zadravec
