About MAP ›

23rd Annual Critics’ Residency Program

For Immediate Release: April 15, 2009

For more information contact:
Julie Ann Cavnor 410-962-8565 / jcavnor@mdartplace.org

Exhibition Dates: April 28-June 20, 2009
Public Forum: 2 pm, Saturday, May 9, 2009
Reception: 3:30 pm, Saturday, May 9, 2009

Baltimore, Maryland—Maryland Art Place announces the return of its nationally-regarded Critics’ Residency program. Celebrating its 23rd year, the program continues to foster a collaborative relationship between artists and writers while stimulating critical discourse about contemporary art within the community.

Eight artists and two writers were selected by New York-based art critic, Vincent Katz, to participate in the 23rd Annual Critics’ Residency program. Artists’ work will be featured in an exhibition scheduled April 28 through June 20, 2009, and the contributions of local writers, Martin L. Johnson and Dylan Kinnett, along with those of the critic, will be included in a catalogue made available to the public.

Artists participating in the 23rd Annual Critics’ Residency program include: Ken D. Ashton, Jessie Boyko, Dottie Campbell, Bernhard Hildebrandt, Gil Jawetz, Bonnie Crawford Kotula, Kim Manfredi, and Lynn Rybicki.

Commenting on the program, renowned art historians and past Critics’ Residency critics, Eleanor Heartney and Irving Sandler, write “the special structure of this program recognizes that making art and writing about art are equally important aspects of a fully formed cultural scene. Here, both are recognized and both are nurtured. In the process artists and writers are allowed to learn from each other.”

A public forum intended to address important issues relating to contemporary art on both a regional and national level is scheduled for Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 2 pm. This free event, which will include program participants, will be moderated by WYPR’s Aaron Henkin and will be followed by a reception at 3:30 pm.

About this Year’s Critic in Residence:

Vincent Katz is an art critic, poet, and curator.  Katz curated an exhibition on Black Mountain College for the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, whose catalogue, Black Mountain College: Experiment In Art, was published by MIT Press in 2002.  In 2008, he curated  Street Dance: The New York Photographs of Rudy Burckhardt for the Museum of the City of New York.  Katz writes frequently on contemporary art and has published essays or articles on the work of Ghada Amer & Reza Farkondeh, Jennifer Bartlett, Jim Dine, Kiki Smith, and Cy Twombly.  Vincent Katz and Vivien Bittencourt’s documentary, Kiki Smith: Squatting The Palace, was screened at Film Forum in New York,  at the 25th Montreal International Festival of Films on Art, and at festivals in Milan, Naples and Florence.  Katz is the author of ten books of poetry, including Judge (2007, in collaboration with Wayne Gonzales), and Alcuni Telefonini (2008, in collaboration with Francesco Clemente).  Katz won ALTA's 2005 National Translation Award for his book of translations from Latin, The Complete Elegies of Sextus Propertius (2004, Princeton University Press).  He was awarded a Rome Prize Fellowship in Literature at the American Academy in Rome for 2001-2002.

About this Year’s Public Forum Moderator:

Aaron Henkin is co-creator and producer of WYPR's radio arts program, The Signal. Henkin’s news reports and features have aired nationally on programs including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Day to Day, as well as PRI’s Studio 360 and The World. Aaron is also a regular guest host on the nationally syndicated American Public Media program, The Story. Aaron’s latest project is a weekly folk music and storytelling program called Tapestry of the Times, a show that explores the audio archives of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

Maryland Art Place (MAP) is a not-for-profit center for contemporary art established in 1981 to: develop and maintain a dynamic environment for regional artists to exhibit their work, nurture and promote new ideas and new forms, and facilitate rewarding exchanges between artists and the public through educational leadership. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 5pm. There is no admission charge to enter the gallery or to participate in MAP’s regular programming. For more information, please visit: www.mdartplace.org