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Work of Art 1

June 7th, 2010 by Lynn DeVries

Here are the artists we’ll watch compete, backstab and give us their all when the series begins:

	Abdi Age: 23 Hometown: Baltimore, Md. Media: painting, sculpture and printmaking
Abdi recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, after being one of four students in the nation to be awarded the Scholastics Art and Writing Gold Portfolio and was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, granting him an audience with the President of the United States. In 2008, the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art selected Abdi into their program, and the following year he spent time studying abroad in Southern France.
Amanda Age: 35 Hometown: Chicago, Ill. Medium: painting
Amanda is a Cornell University graduate. Prior to committing to her pursuit of her true passion of painting, she was an architect. Amanda has cultivated a signature style combining color, space, text and fragments of conversations she’s overheard to create pieces that deal with identity and personal freedom. Her work is sold through several galleries across the country as well as from her own studios. Amanda has exhibited nationally including: the Studio Museum in Harlem, YBCA in San Francisco and DePaul University’s Art Museum in Chicago.
	Erik Age: 31 Hometown: Homer Glen, Ill. Media: film, painting
Erik first found his passion for filmmaking while creating the short film “The Ghost of Christmas Presents,” which debuted at Cannes Film Festival in 2006. Though he has no formal training, Erik is excited about experimenting with all media. As evidenced in his films and most recently, his paintings, Erik seeks to provoke thought with his unusual and often dark creations.
Jaclyn Age: 26 Hometown: Miami, Fla. Media: oil painting, video, photography, drawing
Jaclyn graduated Cum Laude from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2007 where she received numerous scholarships and awards for her artistic achievements. After graduation, she moved to New York City and worked as a studio assistant to mix-media artist Jeff Koons for two years. Jaclyn currently has her own art studio in a professional artist community in Long Island City, NY. Jaclyn’s pieces deal with themes of sexuality and spirituality, and through her narrative paintings of women, she embraces and questions this supposed dichotomy.
	Jaime Lynn Age: 25 Hometown: Lawton, Okla. Media: painting with gouache, acrylics, and watercolors on oversized pieces of paper
Jaime Lynn graduated from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago with an MFA in Painting and Drawing, and went to undergrad at the University of Oklahoma. She has been awarded “Best in Show” at the Skin Exhibition in Oklahoma City, OK (2007), as well as “Best New Artist Working on Paper” at the Around the Coyote exhibit in Chicago, IL (2009). A self-proclaimed Army Brat and a devout Christian, she is inspired by her own struggle to embrace an existence of vapid glitz and fame, juxtaposed by her desire to lead a virtuous and humble life.
John Age: 40 Hometown: Dekalb Ill. Media: painting, drawing
John has been making art since he was five years old, began selling it in the 1980s, and created his first gallery show in the 1990s. He has obtained commissions for T-shirt designs, gallery logos, record labels, and most notably, to create a piece of original artwork for the rooftop of a Mini Cooper to be auctioned off for charity. He has a MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and a post-graduate fellowship at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He has shown his work in over 40 group exhibitions and in 10 solo exhibitions, including a solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. John seeks to integrate the gay community as a theme in much of his work and experiments with the use of color and pattern through combinations of material.
	Judith Age: 62 Hometown: Albany, N.Y. Media: drawing, painting, photocopy and text, and most recently, graphite and charcoal
Judith began her formal art training in 1965 at the Fashion Institute of Technology where she studied illustration. With four art related degrees, eight solo exhibitions, and numerous group exhibitions in far reaching locations such as Spain, Miami, and New York, Judith is showing no signs of slowing down. Throughout her career, she has traveled to give a slide lecture at the Art University of Berlin, participated in the “Bad Girls” exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, and obtained a front-page review in ArtNet Magazine.
Mark Age: 32 Hometown: Santa Maria, Calif. Media: drawing, sculpture, performance art, photography
Fry cook by day, photographer by night; Mark believes art is a lifestyle choice, not a career. Though he attended catholic school and served for years as an altar boy, his art is typically racy, and often infused with humor or sarcasm. Mark views his work as a constant commentary on society and he isn’t afraid to use sex to sell it. Though still living in his conservative hometown, he has worked as a traveling assistant to artist James Luna and has acquired a large online following for his unusual and provocative creations.
	Miles Age: 23 Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn. Media: various
Miles, a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota, is interested in exploring perception, persona, and control through his art. As the youngest artist ever to receive a Minnesota State Arts Board grant, Miles was able to land two solo shows by the time he graduated, as well as sell the entirety of the art in his senior show.
Nao Age: 46 Hometown: San Joaquin, Calif. Media: performance art, video installation, visual art, filmmaking, writing
She has presented in galleries, museums, universities and underground sites across the globe, most notably at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, the Museum of Modern Art, Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and 2010, and the Kiasma Museum of Helsinki. Nao’s work is aligned with feminist art, and often explores the intersections of race and cultural identity.
	Nicole Age: 25 Hometown: New York, N.Y. Media: various alternative & industrial material
Nicole spent four years at the Rochester Institute of Technology, two years at Parsons School of Design and a resulting Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design. She was immediately recruited to join a design and architecture firm. Realizing her true calling was in more conceptual fabrication, she traded her stable income at the firm to independently establish connections between art and design. Nicole’s work has been featured at the Elemental Gallery at Art Basel Miami in 2008 and 2009, Felissimo Gallery, X-Initiative, as well as at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF).
Ryan Age: 27 Hometown: Libertyville, Ill. Medium: oil painting
Ryan secured a full tuition fellowship to Northwestern University where he earned his MFA. Since high school, he has lived solely off his art through prize money, commissions and teaching private art lessons. To date Ryan has shown his work in over 60 juried art shows. His work deals primarily with youth culture and the “cult of excess,” depicting scenes of intoxication and drug use, alienation and cigarette exhalation.
	Trong Age: 38 Hometown: Saigon, Vietnam Medium: various
Trong now resides in Brooklyn, New York where he has exhibited his work extensively including solo shows at Galerie Quynh in Vietnam in 2009 and the Fruit & Flower Deli in New York in 2008. His group exhibitions include Satellites at the Freies Museum in Berlin, Sequences in Iceland, and Performa in New York. His projects have been reviewed in the New York Times, Time Out New York, Paper, Village Voice, and many other publications. Recently, Trong finished writing a “lost chapter” to The Da Vinci Code based on the secret love life of Marcel Duchamp. He is currently working on a “metaphysical GPS” application for the iPhone and his artist-as-company project, Humanitarians Not Heroes.
Peregrine Age: 33 Hometown: San Francisco, Calif. Media: sculptures, imagery, texts
Peregrine made a name for herself when a set of her prints were purchased by the Whitney Museum of American art, establishing her as the youngest living artist to be included in the permanent collection. Peregrine resides in Kansas City, MO where she attended Kansas City Art Institute. She currently curates projects and annual events under the umbrella “Fahrenheit” and owns a lingerie boutique “Birdies”. To date, her work is part of the permanent collections of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and The Chicago Art Institute, among others. She has had solo exhibits in Santa Fe, Kansas City, and Chicago, and has shown in group exhibitions in New York and across the globe.

[Photos: NBC Universal, Inc.]

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Work of Art 1