CARRIÈRES — NOVEMBRE 2009

Rob Pruitt's First Annual Art Awards — New York
Cheong Kwon, 1er novembre 2009

This month, New York’s Guggenheim Museum presented the First Annual Art Awards, “a performance-based artwork,” by artist Rob Pruitt, which took place as a fundraiser for the museum in lieu of their annual fundraising ball.

Rob Pruitt is perhaps most known as the artist who skyrocketed to fame, was shunned as racist and summarily jettisoned out of the art world, and then who was aptly able to reclaim the limelight by getting the people who dismissed him to snort cocaine on their knees during his show "Cocaine Buffet" (1998). Pruitt is an artist who has grown up publically, and one who has tested political affiliations while insisting that materialism and consumption are something to be celebrated. The First Annual Art Awards is yet another project which calls these questions to the forefront, and asks whether art can be qualified by ‘Best of' and ‘Winner'. The awards were modeled after the Academy Awards, and similar to the Oscars, the nominees are biased towards American participants, with catagories such as best "Exhibition Outside the United States". Votes were made by a cross section of art world people while nominations were made by a committee.

While meant to be a satirical event, the First Annual Art Awards begs the question if the art world has become so intertwined with the world of celebrity and entertainment, that it is beyond recovery from mediocrity and vulgarity. The celebrity quotient was represented by presenters Sofia Coppola, Mary-Kate Olsen, Kylie Minogue and Julianne Moore. The event was sponsored by Calvin Klein. In an age of increasing celebrity status for artists, including an upcoming reality show on artists by Bravo, it is questionable if this event serves a purpose beyond press for Pruitt, who the event is named after. Pruitt stated that he wanted the event to be a "super-entertaining parody. But I wanted it to have its own integrity as well". Winners received a trophy (limited edition art object) designed by Pruitt of a champagne bucket and bottle that functions as a lamp. If Art Awards will survive and increase the public awareness of art won't be known until it establishes a sense of longevity. Pruitt believes "Anything that gets more people to pay attention to what is going on in Chelsea, and other art centers throughout the world is a good thing."

For the moment, thankfully, the awards also served as a benefit for non-profit spaces White Columns and Studio In A School.

AND THE WINNERS ARE......

ARTIST OF THE YEAR WINNER: Mary Heilmann Louise Bourgeois Urs Fischer Dan Graham

CURATOR OF THE YEAR WINNER: Connie Butler Klaus Biesenbach Daniel Birnbaum Massimiliano Gioni

EXHIBITION OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES WINNER: Jeff Koons, Versailles, Château de Versailles, France Francis Bacon, Tate Britain, London Mike Kelley: Educational Complex Onwards: 1995–2008, Wiels Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels Wolfgang Tillmans: Lighter, Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin

GROUP SHOW OF THE YEAR, GALLERY WINNER: Who’s Afraid of Jasper Johns? Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York A Twilight Art, Harris Lieberman, New York Your Gold Teeth II, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York ZERO in New York, Sperone Westwater, New York

GROUP SHOW OF THE YEAR, MUSEUM WINNER: The Pictures Generation, 1974–1984, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York After Nature, New Museum, New York The Quick and the Dead, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York

CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR WINNER: Ryan Trecartin Elad Lassry Daniel McDonald Marlo Pascual

THE ROB PRUITT AWARD WINNER: Cynthia Plaster Caster

SOLO SHOW OF THE YEAR, GALLERY WINNER: Manzoni: A Retrospective, Gagosian Gallery, New York Cindy Sherman, Metro Pictures, New York Paul Sharits, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York Picasso: Mosqueteros, Gagosian Gallery, New York

SOLO SHOW OF THE YEAR, MUSEUM WINNER: Martin Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Museum of Modern Art, New York Dan Graham: Beyond, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Lawrence Weiner: As Far as the Eye Can See, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton, New Museum, New York

WRITER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Jerry Saltz Tim Griffin John Kelsey Walter Robinson

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