GRAND RAPIDS, MI - ArtPrize 2015's $500,000 competition opened up with 1,550 possibilities, and now it's down to just 39 entries vying for a pair of $200,000 prizes.
Questions were raised Monday at the first of ArtPrize's two-part Critical Discourse panel discussion, "Why These Finalists?"
Or, as ArtPrize's director of creative and communications Todd Harding, who hosted the event called it, "ArtPrize WTF."
Five Two-Dimensional works and five Installations voted into the Final 20 by ArtPrize viewers plus another five in both categories favored by ArtPrize's jurors were put under the microscope.
A second round of "Critical Discourse" will be held at 7 p.m. tonight to look at Three-Dimensional work and Time-Based entries at ArtPrize Seven.
Anila Quayyum Agha, a professor at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis and ArtPrize 2014 double grand prize winner for her installation, "Intersections;" Jillian Steinhauer, senior editor of Hyperallergic in New York; and Nicole Caruth, artistic director for exhibitions and public engagement at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, participated in the discussion.
Related: ArtPrize 2015: Meet the Final 20 artists
ArtPrize 2015 Public Finalists
Two-Dimensional
• "As Above" by Judith Braun from New York, New York, at Grand Rapids Art Museum.
• "Triple Play" by Anni Crouter from Flint, Michigan, at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Crouter was the winner of the second place $75,000 public vote award at ArtPrize 2013.
• "michigan petoskey stone" by Randall Libby from Manistee, Michigan, at DeVos Place Convention Center.
• "Northwood Awakening" by Ann and Steven Loveless from Frankfort, Michigan, at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Ann Loveless was the winner of the $200,000 ArtPrize 2013 Public Vote Grand Prize.
• "In a Promised Land...." by Shawn Michael Warren from Harvey, Illinois, at DeVos Place Convention Center.
Installation
• "REACH and SPLASH" by Andy Sacksteder from Port Clinton, Ohio, at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Sacksteder was the winner of the third place $50,000 public vote award at ArtPrize 2013.
• "Balancing Act" by Calvin Babich from Toledo, Ohio, at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.
• "TIME & AGAIN Grand Rapids" by Midge Bolt from Pepin, Wisconsin, and Doreen Gunnick from Kentwood, Michigan, at Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.
• "SENSI" by Gianluca Traina from Ventimiglia de Sicilia, Italy, at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.
• "The Grand Rapid Tape Drawing" by The Tape Art Crew: Leah Smith and Michael Townsend, from Providence, Rhode Island, at TowerPinkster -- Architects | Engineers.
"ArtPrize is a study in contrast if nothing else," said Kevin Buist, director of exhibitions at ArtPrize, who moderated the hour-long discussion that aired live on WOOD TV8 from the ArtPrize HUB.
The three admired the social justice expressed in "Guryong Village in Seoul," a photo series of shanty towns in Korea by Soohyun Kim from Chicago; and by "A Fearless Brother Project Presents: Realistic Neglects -- A Graphic Series" a photo series recreating violence in the African American community by Akibang Monroe O'Bryant from Kentwood, both juror's choices.
"There's quite a bit of it this year at ArtPrize," Caruth said.
All three admired "Stripes for St. Joseph," an installation by Nick Kline from New York City, a juror's choice for its striped outer structure on the former Catholic Church.
Agha called it one of best works she's seen at ArtPrize 2015.
"It's simple but beautiful," added Caruth. "And it kind of appealed to my spirituality."
And all three dismissed "Triple Play" by Anni Crouter, a set of three large-scale acrylic paintings of tigers selected by popular vote in the 2D category.
"They're like cuddly cats," Steinhauer said. "If tigers can be belittled, this is belittling them."
Related: Why these finalists? ArtPrize 2015 jurors explain their picks
"In Our Element," an installation of outdoor graffiti by Ruben Ubiera from Miami, a juror's choice, got the thumbs up for the outdoor work that illustrates the history of graffiti.
"I stood in front of it, and I got one thing," Caruth said. "And I stood across the street and got something else."
Meanwhile, "The Grand Rapid Tape Drawing" by Leah Smith and Michael Townsend, from Providence, Rhode Island, won favor with the people but not Monday's panel.
"It's the less successful of the two fish murals we're discussing this evening," Steinhauer said.
ArtPrize 2015 Jurors' Shortlist
Two-Dimensional
• "GANGRENE" at Boardwalk GR Condominiums, by John Haverty from Marion, Massachusetts
• "Guryong Village in Seoul" at GRCC Collins Art Gallery, by Soohyun Kim from Chicago, Illinois
• "A Fearless Brother Project Presents: Realistic Neglects -- A Graphic Series" at Grand Rapids Art Museum, by Akibang Monroe O'Bryant from Kentwood, Michigan
• "Fireside Chats" at Craft House, by Britt Spencer from Savannah, Georgia
• "Fragile Environments" at First (Park) Congregational, by Diana Wege from New York, New York
Installation
• "Constructing on Deconstructing" at 250 Monroe, by Carolina Borja and Amy Toscani from Minneapolis, Minnesota
• "Stripes for St. Joseph" at SiTE:LAB / The Rumsey Street Project, by Nick Kline from New York, New York
• "the sculptural painting" at Spiral, by Jovanni Luna from Nashville, Tennessee
• "In Our Element" at Front Avenue under U.S. 131, by Ruben Ubiera from Miami, Florida
• "Something Old Something New" at Monroe Community Church, by Lisa Williamson from Memphis, Tennessee
Several works were called out for being too busy or too muddy including "Something Old Something New" by Lisa Williamson from Memphis, Tennessee, a juror's installation choice.
"Fragile Environments" by Diana Wege from New York City, a juror's 2D choice, needed editing, according to Agha.
"There's so much happening, I was just trying to understand the story," Caruth said.
Several were dubbed close, but not quite there, such as "Northwood Awakening" by Steven Loveless from Frankfort, Michigan. The photograph was interwoven with textiles by Ann Loveless, who was the winner of the $200,000 ArtPrize 2013 Public Vote Grand Prize.
"The image isn't very interesting, but it's so well executed, it stands on its own," said Steinhauer.
Same for Judith Braun's "As Above," a large-scale charcoal portrait and a people's choice for Best 2D works.
"The work is delightful. She's delightful," Caruth said. "I wanted to love this piece. I didn't."
"Time & Again Grand Rapids" by Midge Bolt from Pepin, Wisconsin, and Doreen Gunnick from Kentwood, was an interesting idea only displayed in the wrong place, surrounded by flowers, beneath a giant chandelier at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.
The fountain at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum did no favors for "Reach and Splash," a bronze sculpture by Andy Sacksteder, from Port Clinton, Ohio, which was called static and stiff, while "Balancing Act" by Calvin Babich, of Toledo, was described as too small.
"I think the fountain is more interesting," Steinhauer said.
The panel was bewildered by "Sensi," by Gianluca Traina, from Sicily, Italy, a five-part installation portraying the five senses.
"There's something very strange about them being on the wall," Caruth said.
"Constructing on Deconstructing" at 250 Monroe, by Carolina Borja and Amy Toscani from Minneapolis, Minnesota, left Agha behind, she said.
"I felt it needed a video or something to anchor it down. Once a pinata is down, it's down," said Agha, adding, "Maybe if there had been one of Donald Trump."
Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk covers arts and entertainment for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jkaczmarczyk@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.