The No Dead Artists exhibition was founded in 1995 to give a voice to emerging artists. The exhibition's name is derived from the old adage that artists never achieve success until they are dead. No Dead Artists turns that notion on its head and gives emerging artists their first break in the art world. In the 90's, the exhibition was open only to New Orleans artists and subsequently grew to include artists of Louisiana. In 2010, the exhibition expanded to become a national juried exhibition open to artists from the entire US.

 

The exhibition has been a springboard for numerous artists leading to national press coverage, recognition, gallery representation and acquisitions by museums and other prominent collections. Each year gallery owner Jonathan Ferrara invites a panel of renowned arts professional and collectors to select the newest creative talents, and the exhibition draws a crowd of thousands interested in discovering the work of this selected group of emerging artists. The exhibition serves as a rite of passage for many artists, some of whom are developing their initial relationship with a commercial gallery.

 

Past jurors have included Prospect.1 Founder and Curator Dan Cameron, Museum Director Billie Milam Weisman, Collector and Philanthropist Beth Rudin DeWoody, MacArthur Fellow John Scott, Whitney Trustee and Ballroom Marfa Co-founder Fairfax Dorn, Philantropist, Author, Curator and Collector Toby Devan Lewis, New Orleans Museum of Art Director Susan Taylor, 21c Museum Director William Morrow and artist Tony Fitzpatrick.

 

For the 16th edition, three renowned arts professionals served as the No Dead Artists jury:

 

*Thomas Coleman - Collector

*Amanda Coulson - Director of the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas and Founder of VOLTA Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland and VOLTA New York.

*Eric Shiner - Director of the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA.

 

Of the approximate 2,500 artworks submitted to this jury by over 500 artists, twelve artists were selected to have their work exhibited at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery.

 

The 2012 No Dead Artists Jury Winners

 

Abhidnya Ghuge - Tyler, TX

Ayano Hisa - New York, NY

Edward Ramsay-Morin - Huntsville, TX

Tadashi Moriyama - Brooklyn, NY

Jeffrey Pastorek - New Orleans, LA

Samuel Provenza - New Orleans, LA

Aaron Raymer - New York City, NY

Nikki Rosato - Medford, Massachusetts

Ira Upin - Philadelphia, MA

Raine Vasquez - Providence, RI

Derrick Velasquez - Denver, CO

Adam Void - Baltimore, MD

 

The 16th edition of this exhibition will feature 40 new works, ranging from the dynamic floor-to-ceiling installation piece by Abhidnya Ghuge (consisting of 5,441 paper plates), the technicolor hyperrealist paintings by Ira Upin, and the minimalist conceptual neon works by Raine Vasquez. Other highlights from the exhibition include photographs of Tsunami-blighted Japanese schoolhouses in Tohoku by Ayano Hisa, Nikki Rosato's haunting studies of human connectivity using cut maps as her medium, and Edward Ramsay-Morin's hyberbolic prints which explore Western anxieties in the digital age. Samuel Provenza's point-study steel sculptures and Jeffrey Pastorek's narrative portrait grids represent the New Orleans artist's contribution to the exhibition. The exhibition also features Tadashi Moriyama's hand-drawn animated film and surrealist paintings on paper, Derrick Vasquez's series of abstract wall sculpture based on manufactured and industrially engineered materials, and Adam Void's socially-driven collages composed of collected urban propaganda. Last but not least, Aaron Raymer's dramatic sculpture D-Fence incorporates industrial material with taxidermy to create a geometric point of visual interest.

 

In addition to having their works exhibited at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, selected jury winners will be featured in an article by D. Eric Bookhardt of Gambit Weekly and Artpapers. Also, a new aspect of the exhibition will award one of the selected jury winning artists a solo exhibition in 2013.