The Rickie Report shares the view that we are some of the luckiest people to live nearby the Norton Museum of Art.  Having refurbished some of its installations, this gem of a museum is ready to offer more activities and show off some new acquisitions!

New York-based artist Rob Wynne has install a large-scale work titled, I Remember Ceramic Castles, Mermaids & Japanese Bridges. Inspired by the Norton’s proximity to the ocean, Wynne is incorporating silkscreened wallpaper and his signature glass-beaded drawings that reference life above, near, and under the sea. This is the second site-specific artwork commissioned for the lobby; the first was Jose Alvarez’s Vibrating Strands of Energy.

The first new exhibition of 2012-2013 opens on Sept. 27 with the inaugural Rudin Prize for Emerging Photographers, an international, biennial showcase and award for emerging photographers. The Norton Museum of Art has announced the five finalists who are competing for its Rudin Prize, a new international award for emerging photographers on the leading edge of their field, but who have not yet had a solo museum exhibition.

About the Rudin Prize

The Rudin Prize is a new international award for emerging photographers. Every two years, five world-renowned artists will each nominate one emerging artist on the cutting edge of the field who has not yet had a solo museum exhibition. The five photographers will present their work in a group exhibition and the Museum’s Photography Committee—comprised of Norton curators, collectors, and trustees—will select the winner.  The prize includes a $20,000 cash award. It is named in honor of the late New York City real estate developer Lewis Rudin, father of Beth Rudin DeWoody, who is a member of the Photography Committee at the Norton and President of The Rudin Family Foundations and Executive Vice President of Rudin Management Company.

“Each of these photographers represents a unique and vital approach to the medium and its potential,” said Tim B. Wride, the Norton’s William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography.  “We have been very fortunate to have the support of Beth Rudin DeWoody throughout the process as well as a great slate of nominators. Ultimately, however, we are most gratified to be able to present the work of this eclectic group of international photographers to our audiences.”  The five finalists for the inaugural Rudin Prize are: 

Eunice Adorno (Mexico City) (Nominated by Susan Meiselas)

Eunice Adorno was born in Mexico in 1982.  She received a diploma in photography from the Centro Morelense de las Artes in Cuernavaca. At the Norton, Adorno will exhibit a series titled Flower Women, which documents the daily lives of Mennonite women in northern Mexico. Adorno who is a freelance photographer for El Independiente, Reforma, Marie Claire and National Geographic Travel has become known for her sensitive documentation of women and other cultures.

Mauro D’Agati (Palermo, Sicily) (Nominated by Michael Rovner)

Mauro D’Agati was born in Palermo in 1968. He began working as a professional photographer in 1995, drawn to the jazz festivals, art events, and the social climate of the Sicilian capital. At the Norton, D’Agati will present images from “Napule Shot,” a body of work centering on the people and atmosphere of the city of Naples, Italy.

Gabriela Nin Solis (Mexico City) (Nominated by Graciela Iturbide)

Photographer Gabriela Nin Solis was born in Puebla, Mexico in 1980.  She received a B.A. in architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana in 2004, and a M.A. in photography at the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle in Germany in 2011. Returning to Mexico City, Solis became fascinated by the urban upheaval the construction of a freeway through many of the older neighborhoods of the city was creating. The result is an ongoing series of intimate black-and-white images, “Gran Via,” that will be excerpted for the Rudin Prize exhibition.

Analia Saban (Los Angeles, California) (Nominated by John Baldessari)

Painter, sculptor, and installation artist Analia Saban was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1980. She received her BFA in Visual Arts from Loyola University in New Orleans in 2001, then  relocated to Los Angeles where she completed her graduate studies at UCLA in 2005.  At the Norton, Saban will exhibit a series that deconstructs the photographic process.  During the last stage of development, Saban removes, writes on, and otherwise compromises the emulsion of photographs. The results are unique objects that are a combination of photography, drawing, and painting.

Bjørn Venø (London) (Nominated by Yinka Shonibare)

Multimedia artist Bjørn Venø was born in 1979 and reared in Selje, Norway. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Creative Arts in Rochester, Kent, UK and recently completed an MIA in photography at the Royal College of Art in London. Venø  works with photography, video, and performance. At the Norton, he will display a series interrogating conceptions of masculinity. In his own words, he “tries very hard to be a licensed fool and has a burning desire to explore beyond our paradigm.”

 Other events occurring shortly after re-opening include:

• Bollywood comes to Palm Beach County!  Art After Dark on Sept. 20 celebrates the Indian film industry popularly known as “Bollywood,” and will feature Indian music, dancing and food. 

• The Museum’s Seventh Annual Moon Festival from Noon. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 29 features great performances, artist demonstrations, hands-on art and calligraphy activities for kids and adults, tours and gallery talks, and of course, delicious moon cakes ordered fresh from Chinatown in New York. For Moon Festival details, visit Norton.org   

• The Norton is participating in Smithsonian Magazine’s 8^th Annual Museum Day Live on Sept. 29. Download a free Museum Day Live! ticket from the Smithsonian Magazine website, present it to Norton Visitor Services, and enjoy two free admissions per ticket valid on Sept. 29!

• The last day to see the popular exhibition, Clubs, Joints, and Honky-Tonks: Photographers Experience the Music Scene, is Sept. 30.  

• Watercolors from the Collection, an exhibition of rarely-exhibited works on paper presented by the Norton’s summer interns, featuring European and American artists such as Chagall, Modigliani, Demuth, Wyeth, Francis, and others, is extended through Oct. 24.  

NORTON MUSEUM OF ART ACQUIRES

                   ANNIE LEIBOVITZ PHOTOGRAPHS 

Acquisitions Add to Norton’s Encyclopedic Photography Collection

The Norton Museum of Art has acquired a collection of 39 works by the renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, and will present Annie Leibovitz, an exhibition of these new acquisitions that will open Jan. 17, 2013 and run through June 9, 2013.  Norton to Organize Leibovitz Exhibition Opening in January 2013

“The Norton’s photography collection of more than 3,000 works spans the entire history of the medium. Annie Leibovitz is one of the most important portrait photographers of our time and as such deserves a prominent place in our encyclopedic permanent collection,” said Charles Stainback, Assistant Director of the Norton Museum of Art. “The photographs we’ve chosen demonstrate the quiet power of the photograph and the vital connection between the artist and the subject—the essential element of all great portraits.”

Stainback worked closely with Leibovitz to narrow the selection to the final 39 photographs, which include a mixture of well-known and lesser-known works that range from the 1970s to the present. Both Stainback and Leibovitz felt it was important to select a grouping that emphasized the scope of her portraiture—from her images of celebrated figures to less familiar subjects. The black-and-white and color images on view will include: American Soldiers and Mary, Queen of the Negritos, Clark Air Base, The Philippines (1968); Cindy Sherman, New York City (1992); R2-D2, Pinewood Studios, London (2000), and The Reverend Al Sharpton, Prima Donna Beauty Care Center, Brooklyn, New York (1988). There are also iconic portraits of actors, musicians, and artists, from Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt to Allen Ginsberg and Andy Warhol.

“The Norton has made a sophisticated selection,” Leibovitz said. “While there are several portraits of very famous people, they are not my most famous portraits. There are some surprises.”

“We are fortunate to have generous donors that provide us with the means to continually enhance our collection,” said Norton Executive Director Hope Alswang. “We were able to acquire the Leibovitz portraits with the support of individual contributions as well as the Norton’s special endowment funds. Ralph Norton built an incredible collection that is the basis for the Norton Museum of Art, and it is our responsibility to the community to continue to acquire great art.”

One of the most celebrated photographers of our time, Annie Leibovitz has been documenting American popular culture since the early 1970s, when her work began appearing in Rolling Stone. For nearly 30 years her photos have appeared regularly in Vanity Fair and Vogue. A retrospective of her work from 1970 to 1990 was presented by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. and the International Center of Photography in New York. A Photographer’s Life, 1990-2005 opened at the Brooklyn Museum and toured widely, including the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Leibovitz’s most recent exhibition, Pilgrimage, opened at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. early this year.

Leibovitz is the recipient of many honors, including the rank of Commandeur in the French government’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the International Center of Photography’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 2000, and received the 2012 Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts.

About the Norton Museum

The Norton Museum of Art is a major cultural attraction in Florida, and internationally known for its distinguished Permanent Collection featuring American Art, Chinese Art, Contemporary Art, European Art and Photography. The Norton is located at 1451 S. Olive Ave. in West Palm Beach, FL., and  is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed on Mondays and major Holidays). General admission is $12 for adults, $5 for students with a valid ID, and free for Members and children ages 12 and under.  Special group rates are available. West Palm Beach residents receive free admission every Saturday with proof of residency. Palm Beach County residents receive free admission the first Saturday of each month with proof of residency. For additional information, please call (561) 832-5196, or visit www.norton.org. 

For coverage of your events, to place an advertisement, or speak to Rickie about appearing in The Rickie Report, contact The Rickie Report at:

Rickie Leiter, Publisher

The Rickie Report

P.O.Box 33423

Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33420

Rickie@therickiereport.com

561-537-0291