I was struck by the number of works that suggested states of flux, transformation, and transmutation, be it through material experimentation and abstraction to figuration and narrative. "In making selections for the 20th ArtWorcester Biennial, I wanted to let the submissions guide me in finding a theme through which to select works. His forthcoming exhibition, The Performative Self-Portrait, at the RISD Museum in spring 2023 looks at photographers who turn the lens back on themselves, whether to enact an alternative identity or to engage with history or something else. His exhibitions include Drama Queer: Seducing Social Change in 2016 (Vancouver, BC), Ill at Ease: Dis-ease in Art in 2017 (Buffalo, NY), Three Acts, Three Scenes: My Care, Your Care, Careful Care in 2018 (Brooklyn, NY), and Variance: Making, Unmaking, and Remaking Disability (Providence, RI). He is interested in performativity and identity-based issues, especially related to sexuality, gender, and disability. His statement helps explain the artistic, aesthetic, and thematic reasons behind his choices, for the works included and for those given prizes.Ĭonor Moynihan is the Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the RISD Museum. Out of a record-breaking 530 submissions, this Biennial’s juror, Conor Moynihan of the RISD Museum, selected only 57. This particular Biennial is the most competitive yet. Additional major prizes include the Evelyn Claywell Absher Award for Abstract Art, and, for the first time, the Ruth Susan Westheimer Prize for Fine Craft. WAM, however, has been part of the Biennial almost from the beginning, sponsoring prizes through its Hoche-Scofield Prize and Scholarship Fund and, in very early years, hosting the exhibition in the Higgins Educational Wing.
To date, James Dye, Susan Swinand, and Kat O’Connor have been featured. The Biennial partnership with the Worcester Art Museum to exhibit the Sally Bishop Prize winner began in 2017. It is a tradition to celebrate the Biennial, and to criticize it. Art critic Leon Nigrosh described red paint being thrown over the entrance of Horticultural Hall at the very first Biennial, protesting the juror’s choices. Selectivity inevitably leads to controversy, and the Biennial has always been ArtsWorcester’s most controversial exhibition. As one artist put it, the Biennial is a rite of passage, but not one guaranteed from one exhibition to the next. The jurors look at a growing number of artists submitting work and a steady increase in the quality of that work, bringing to their selection process their own opinions and preferences. An external juror-usually a curator at a regional museum, and different for every Biennial-is invited to select exhibited artwork and award prizes. The Biennial is the most competitive of ArtsWorcester’s offerings. Nearly four decades later, it now takes place in our permanent home, but there the differences end.
The first Biennial, fulfilling that intention, took place in 1985 at the Worcester County Horticultural Society at 30 Elm Street (now the Worcester Historical Museum). An artist and educator named Sally Bishop drove an all-volunteer committee to create a prestigious opportunity for artists.
When the organization now known as ArtsWorcester was founded, a top priority was to establish a juried exhibition of visual art, intended to showcase the highest quality and newest practices in the region. This exhibition is produced in partnership with:Īdditional support for the ArtsWorcester Biennial comes from Marlene and David Persky and the George F. Pop-Up Beer Tasting with Redemption Rock in the galleries (Free admission! Learn more) Members and Supporters' Preview begins at 5:00 PM Thursday, May 25, 5:30-8:30 PM This year's Biennial is juried by Conor Moynihan, Assistant Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the RISD Museum. The year 2023 marks the twentieth ArtsWorcester Biennial, an exhibition that has included the region's best visual art since 1985.
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