Essay, Marking Memory

BRIGITTA VARADI: MARKING MEMORY

BY ANDREA ALESSI

This essay was first published in the ArtSlant Prize 2016 Catalogue, on the occasion of the ArtSlant Prize Shortlist exhibition at SPRING/BREAK Art Show, from February 28–March 6, 2017. Brigitta Varadi is the ArtSlant Prize 2016 Grand Prize winner. Other ArtSlant Prize 2016 catalogue essays: Tiffany Smith & Sterling Crispin

'In some way, all things are congealed moments in a longer social trajectory. All things are brief deposits of this or that property, photographs that conceal the reality of the motion from which their objecthood is a momentary respite.

—Arjun Appadurai, “The Thing Itself” [1]

To hear Brigitta Varadi talk about sheep is to hear her effuse about something bigger than wool, felt, or the declining carpet and farming industries in the remote corner of North West Ireland where she lives. Her animated descriptions of how highland farmers mark and identify their sheep spin into ruminations on knowledge, memory, commerce, and social relations—and how each may be sketched onto downy fleeces or mapped onto the rural landscape. '  Read the full essay: please click here

1st Prize, ArtSlant Award 2016 - Spring Break Art Show

Very honoured to be selected and awarded 1st Prize ArtSlant 2016.

The ArtSlant Prize 2016 exhibition, which will be taking place at SPRING/BREAK! We are very excited to be a part of this curator-centric, site-specific fair. This year, SPRING/BREAK is setting up shop at 4 Times Square, the neon center of a world on the brink.

SPRING/BREAK Art Show is an internationally recognized exhibition platform using underused historic New York City spaces to activate and challenge the traditional cultural landscape of the art market, typically but not exclusively during Armory Arts Week. The sixth annual fair will be held from February 28th – March 6th, 2017.

Oscar Wilde famously suggested great art “reveal beauty and hide the artist.” For the 2017 BLACK MIRROR exhibition at SPRING/BREAK, more than 100 curators will feature artworks that explore the dance of identity the artist undergoes—between showing what’s unseen and hiding in plain sight—especially in the face of modern technology, political unrest, and glimmers from ghosts of Art History’s past.

The Artslant Prize 2016 Winners:

First: Brigitta Varadi
Second: Tiffany Smith
Third: Sterling Crispin
Honorable Mentions: Bex Ilsley, Jin Hee Park

ArtSlant Juried Winner

'Noel Ruana' has been selected as a Juried winner in the Painting Category of the ARTslant 1st 2016 Prize. HUGE THANKS to Jurors: Lynnette Miranda and Nathaly Charria! 

PAINTING: Brigitta Varadi, Noel Ruane, 2015; Abstract: Trixie Pitts, A little Rain, 2016; Mixed Media:Amin Roshan, Ancestors, 2013; Drawings:Terry Arena, Feed:Chives, 2015; New Media: Carolyn Frischling, Quidditas #selfie III., 2016

Lynnette Miranda is a latina curator and writer from Miami, FL. She has six years of experience working at leading art institutions such as MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, ART21, and Creative Time. In 2015, she coordinated three art conferences, including The Creative Time Summit: The Curriculum at the Venice Biennale, and ART21’s Creative Chemistries: Radical Practices for Art + Education at the Park Avenue Armory. She received an MA in Visual Arts Administration from New York University and a BFA in Studio Art with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Since 2012, she has curated exhibitions at ACRE Projects, Mana Contemporary Chicago, and Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space. Miranda is also the founder and director of MAKE-SPACE.NET, an artist-run online platform and curatorial initiative that explores the practices of experimental contemporary artists through an intersectional lens. She regularly writes about contemporary studio methodologies on MAKE-SPACE.NET, and has previously written for Hyperallergic and this is tomorrow, Contemporary Art Magazine. Miranda has recently been selected as the 2016-2018 Curator in Residence at Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, MO. 

Nathaly Charria is a consultant, curator, and art world connector with a decade of experience in Miami, Los Angeles, and New York. She heads Natology Project. From developing and marketing artists, niche and luxury brands to producing and curating exhibitions, collections, and editorial content, her diverse background is custom-tailored for each client. Charria has been a part of building influential artists such as FriendsWithYou, Millie Brown, and David Jay. She has also worked, in various capacities, with American Express, Volkswagen, Sanrio. Charria's recent collaborators include Pulse Art Fair, Rocket In My Pocket, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami Design District, and The Standard Hotel.