Month: November 2021

Seventy-nine equally sized lumps of cast iron tinted orange with oxidation are arrayed on a low pedestal in an art exhibit. This is Pritika Chowdhry’s “The Master’s Tongue: Dialectics of Language,” and the strength of her sculptural illustration lies in its simplicity. The Masters’ Tongues was first created as part of an artist residency in Franconia Sculpture Park.

Look closely, and you will notice that the lumps turn out to be tongues, each slightly different from one another. The number of tongues is especially significant: one for each of the fifty-four Commonwealth countries and twenty-five territories under British governance. These seventy-nine states have mother tongues other than English, yet English is still widely spoken in these nations. And so, the chief motivation behind Chowdhry’s work is examining the politics of language and investigating how it functions as a tool of colonial and neo-colonial power.

The Masters’ Tongues represent the once globe-spanning British Empire and a reminder of the spread of the English language and all the other languages lost or suppressed during the age of colonialism (especially during the British colonial rule in India). These are tongues without mouths, after all.

English as a Tool of Colonialism and Resistance

Chowdhry’s artwork engages with the texts of several prominent thinkers and philosophers. In “Discourse on Language,” French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault investigates power, knowledge, and the control of discourse. Foucault’s notion is reflected in how language was used by the British to create a discourse of their superiority and the inferiority of the natives of the colonies.  The British claims of superiority were validated by dubious entitlements of eugenics, industrialization, and rituals of civilization.

Another classic work in postcolonial studies that informs Chowdhry’s work is Gauri Viswanathan’s Masks of Conquest. In this text, Viswanathan describes the introduction of English studies in India under British rule and states that the curricular study of English can no longer be understood innocently or inattentively to the imperial contexts in which the discipline first articulated its mission. In other words, English was used as a potent tool to colonize the minds of the native people and instill in them an identity of being inherently inferior and uncivilized.

Even today, the ability to speak fluently in English is a marker of superiority in many of Britain’s former colonies. And not surprisingly, to gain fluency in English in a county where the language is not its mother tongue often requires access to elite schools and considerable financial resources.

It’s undeniable, however, that English is constantly changing in all the 79 countries presented in Chowdhry’s work, as to how the language spoken and written becomes hybridized by the accents, colloquial phrases, and sounds of the local mother tongues. Immigrants to the West also transform the English language by appropriating it for their purposes. The emergence of English dialects such as Spanglish (Spanish + English), Chinglish (Chinese + English), Hinglish (Hindi + English), Caribbean patois, and many other variations signal change for the better which informs the crux of Chowdhry’s work.

The Art of Rusted Iron

Through The Masters’ Tongues, Chowdhry establishes that the emergence of English dialects is a provocative sign of colonized people asserting their cultural identity back onto the colonizer’s language – a practical way of combating neo-colonialism. It’s why she purposely allowed the tongues to rust over several months to symbolize the gradual changes and local adaptations in the English language and signify how postcolonial appropriation of the master’s language can undermine and subvert at least one of the master’s tools. The rusting process also continually changes the tongues in subtle ways, making the work durational. And while rust can be seen as deterioration, rust creates a hard outer shell on iron that protects the metal and makes it stronger.

Chowdhry was drawn to iron specifically for its aesthetic quality and as a cultural reference. So all seventy-nine cast iron tongues in her installation are indicators of the Industrial Revolution – one of the significant forces of colonial power and the primary metal used to create railroads, ammunition, and monumental buildings.

Countering the Narrative

Much of Chowdhry’s other sculptural installations investigate counter-memory, and like in the case of The Masters’ Tongues, the power of language as a container of emotions and memories. Works such as Naturalized, Empty Time, and Endlessly are all part of a Sculptural Poems series that present narratives excluded from dominant cultural discourse to disrupt hegemonic collective memories.

The Masters’ Tongues brings into conversation the words of Black lesbian feminist writer and activist Audre Lorde, who said in a feminist conference in 1979: “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” But postcolonial literature, colonial historiography, and other significant cultural texts coming out of the former colonies allude to a new era in which the master’s tools have been appropriated as a tool of resistance by the once colonized people. For a postcolonial artist like Chowdhry, this is a heartening turn of events. The Masters’ Tongues is in dialog with Lorde’s statement and suggests that maybe, just maybe, the enslaved can and do appropriate the master’s tools (English) to dismantle the master’s house (colonialism).

About the Artist

Prithika Chowdhry is an artist, curator, scholar, and educator. Born and brought up in India, she currently lives in Chicago (Illinois) in the United States. Chowdhry has an MFA in Studio Art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MA in Visual Culture and Gender Studies.

Her works have been featured both nationally and internationally in group and solo exhibitions in the Weisman Museum in Minneapolis, Queens Museum in New York, the Hunterdon Museum in New Jersey, the Islip Art Museum in Long Island, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, the DoVA Temporary in the University of Chicago, the Brodsky Center in Rutgers University, and the Cambridge Art Gallery in Massachusetts.

Chowdhry received a Vilas International Travel Fellowship, an Edith and Sinaiko Frank Fellowship for a Woman in the Arts, a Wisconsin Arts Board grant, and a Minnesota State Arts Board grant. She has taught at Macalester College and College of Visual Arts, both in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Published scholarship about Chowdhry’s work has also come out in peer-reviewed research publications and various exhibition catalogs. Additionally, she has presented her studio research projects at various national conferences, such as the International Arts Symposium at New York University, The Contested Terrains of Globalization at the University of California (Irvine), and the South Asian Conference at the University of Wisconsin (Madison). Chowdhry also participates in panels and gives lectures, and talks about her work by invitation.

To learn more about Pritika Chowdhry and her work, please visit her website, www.countermemoryproject.org.

About the Author

Reanne Rodrigues is a writer, editor, arts advocate, and digital media specialist in Manhattan, New York City.

For over ten years, she’s helped leading performing arts organizations, nonprofits, dance studios, artists, and performers build their audiences, engage their communities, and market smarter.

Having lived and worked in London, Dubai, Toronto, and New York, Reanne’s multicultural experience has shaped her into a skilled storyteller with excellent working knowledge of the international arts and culture landscape.

To learn more about Reanne and her work, visit www.reannewrites.com.

Open to all artists 18 years and older for our final competition of the year! My Best Work of 2021 Visual Arts Competition. Artists please submit current artwork created in 2021. The theme for this event is OPEN.  Please present to us what you feel is the best work your created this year! All traditional mediums allowed including oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolor, pastel, fiber & mixed media, digital art, photography and sculpture.Prize summary: Win Cash, Social and Art Media Promotion + much more!Prizes Details:

Our top priority is to promote artist’s work!  Our team has a combined background of 30+ years in the art industry as artists, leaders, marketing specialists, sales consultants and art promoters.  You will not be disappointed with our detail and professionalism.  Our exhibitions are about you, the artist!

Artist’s work is then juried and selected for a virtual online exhibition.  This is a competition, not all entries will be in the final exhibition.

Prizes include:
Best in Show Platinum Award
Gold Award of Excellence
Sliver Awards – up to 12
Bronze Awards – based on number of entries

Cash award goes to the top two award recipients! Best in Show receives main page slider promotion at CB, blog post at Top Art Awards, news story Art Base, digital art registration at ArtChain.Info & entry into CB’s Artwork of the Year Award. + Top 14 YouTube video. All award recipients receive 3-month online group exhibition of their work, international social media exposure, Art Week and Art Base international news publications, e-blast announcement to international buyers, friends and artists + official award certificate.

Deadline: 12/19/2021

Entry Fee:

• Yes

Fee Detail: $19 for two artworks

How to Apply: 

Apply online
Art Contest | My Best Work of 2021 | Camelback GalleryWeb Link: https://www.camelbackgallery.com/mybestworkof2021competition

CALL FOR ARTISTS: VENICE INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR
14TH EDITION, 2021/2022
Venice | December 16, 2021 – January 10, 2022
Deadline: November 27, 2021

Venice International Art Fair is a contemporary art fair that presents collective and solo projects by leading and emerging international artists. The 14th edition will represent a forum for the direct exchange of ideas and contacts between collectors, artists, photographers, designers and art professionals. The art fair features paintings, sculptures, photography art, installations, video art and live performance.

Venice International Art Fair, organized by ITSLIQUID Group in collaboration with Venice Events, will be held in Venice, at THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space from December 16, 2021 to January 10, 2022, and in other prestigious venues and historical buildings.Prizes Details: 

Artists, architects, designers and fashion designers have the chance to win 100.000,00 euros in prizes:

– The winner of the first prize will be awarded with one year of Contemporary Art Exhibitions in Venice (during Venice Biennale), in London and Barcelona during ITSLIQUID Exhibitions program 2021 and 2022
– 5 participants will be awarded with an Exhibition in Venice
– 5 participants will be awarded with an Exhibition in London
– 5 participants will be awarded with an Exhibition in Barcelona
– 10 featured articles on the ITSLIQUID PlatformDeadline: 11/27/2021

Entry Fee:

• Yes

Fee Detail: it depends on the works’ dimensionsHow to Apply: 

send an email to: martinamelica.itsliquid@gmail.com 

or subscribe at: https://www.itsliquid.com/call-veniceartfair-14th.html Web Link: https://www.itsliquid.com/call-veniceartfair-14th.html

The 8th International Marianne Brandt Award 2022 asks artists and designers how that which connects us with other living beings and habitats can be newly discovered and designed. We are looking for projects, images, and texts on cooperative, aesthetic, metaphorical, and poetic exchanging relationships with other organisms and natural existences.

How could we conceive and design connecting processes, objects, and atmospheres in this sense? How can we talk, write and tell about our existential connections in poetic and creative ways?

In the 1920s the Chemnitz-born artist and Bauhaus designer Marianne Brandt had written poems, in which she discovered forms of nature that appear like poetic and constructive role models for her shiny and geometric metal designs of “tableware” and “lighting bodies”. The sea appeared 
as a “shimmering round” or the moon as 
a “sculptural sphere”. At the same time, 
she searched for analogies in natural phenomena for her sensations and moods. Brandt found resonance in “sheet lightning” or in “rippling waves”.

What are the approaches to nature that are relevant for artists and designers today? How can we foster, show or celebrate moments that connect us?Prize summary: 15.000 € cash prizes, exhibition, catalogPrizes Details: 

We award 5.000€ in each category – project, photography, text. 60 nominated works will be exhibited at Wirkbau Chemnitz and published in a catalog at Jovis Verlag Berlin. Special prices will be given by special prize donors.

Deadline: 21/03/2022

Entry Fee:

• Yes

Fee Detail: 30€

How to Apply: 

Web Link: https://marianne-brandt-wettbewerb.de/en/home.html

Every artist knows that for art to be considered exemplary and a masterpiece, it has to tell a story. Every stroke of the brush on a piece of canvas draws power and emotion capturing people’s attention. The use of colors, shapes and other artistic elements are essential aspects of illustrative artwork. As a result, for an illustrative artwork to stand out, the artist involved should show the knack and skill to bring out the story in the art to stand out and draw people’s attention.

Following several of their works, the following illustration artists are to be watched out for in 2022.

1.  Beatriz Castro

Beatriz Castro, 36, is a professional illustrator who studied art in her hometown Logroño, La Rioja, Spain. Her love for art was evident from a tender age where she could draw and write eye-catching stories. After graduating from college in 2008, she began writing books that have been household names to international publishers such as Anaya, Oxford University Press, and Rovio based in Spain and England, respectively. Her works majorly appear in books, illustrated books, and covers. In her illustrative artwork, she produces colorful images with funny character designs.

Beatriz Castro is a lover of animals and books. Her hobbies include reading classic stories, fairy tales, listening to punk and rock music.

1. Annie Wilkinson

Born in a family that is enthusiastic about art forms like drawing, photography and music, Annie Wilkinson has grown to become an epic illustrative artist and a band musician. Until she was 21 years old, she had not thought of being an illustrative artist despite being skilled since her childhood. However, when she began engaging in illustrative artwork, she grew to love it and wouldn’t imagine doing anything other than that.

She digitally creates her work using native apps and prominently uses the juxtaposition technique to enhance her art.

When she is not working, she plays in a band with her friends and engages in ice hockey during winter and baseball during summer.

1. Chris Herriot

Chris Herriot is an illustrator and an enthusiastic writer, producer, actor, and ardent fine arts lover. He is well trained in his trades and has worked as a voice-over agent for film production and tv companies, giving him all the ability to view art from a wide range of creative angles.

As a man of many hats in the creative arena, Chris is passionate about advertising. He has worked with various brands for more than five years. In his creative journey, his best moment is when he receives a new client and prepares to fully deliver high-quality work to meet his clients’ needs.

His most recent projects include Nike Commercial for the World Cup, content development for Jaguar Land Rover, advertising for Pantechnicon, Washington Post, New Yorker, and other renowned companies.

1. Fabian Slongo

Have you ever drawn your inspiration from your childhood experience? You are not alone because Fabian Slongo, a freelance artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina, began his illustrative artwork journey when he was three years old. Despite not reading, he could decipher and get drawn to the images and texts in his comic books, something that made him specialize in vivid illustrative artwork for school children and textbooks.

Apart from doing illustrations for children’s textbooks, he is also a professional art illustrator for medical, technical, and nature books. Fabian, 59, has illustrated for Macmillan Education, Edelvives, Clarín Group, and Norma Editions.

When he is not engaging in his artwork, Fabian will watch Hitchcock’s and De Palma´s movies. Moreover, he loves watching modern South Korean cinema

1. Ana Peake

Ana Peake is a dedicated and enthusiastic illustrator focusing on children’s artwork, greeting cards, and editorials. She is a veteran illustrator as she has been in the industry for the last 10 years, giving her a perfect mastery in her work.

As an artist to watch for in 2022, Ana has created works for various globally recognized brands, including Target, Minted, Barness and Noble, all in which her focus is to bring art into the lives of children, opening their environment to lots of learning, fun, and exposure.

When she is not in her creative studio designing the next big illustration, you will find Ana tending to her garden, discovering new recipes in the kitchen or exploring Austin’s culinary scene.

As days go by, art is gaining more pop and color. Discoveries in new art techniques, tools, and creative ways of doing it are a significant contribution to this. The artists are still coming in handy to move the industry to newer levels each day. Their competitiveness amongst themselves is making them rush to offer the best illustrations. When you get an art project next time, consider the above-reviewed illustrators.

Call for Application
8th International Winter Campus 2022
from 28th February to 27th March 2022

Künstlerstadt Kalbe, an innovative project in the Altmark region (Saxony-Anhalt) with the goal of countering demographic change through art and culture, is awarding scholarships for a working residency for the 8th time.

In accordance with the concept of a social plastic referring to Joseph Beuys, Künstlerstadt Kalbe sees itself as a place where the creative power of art is to be unleashed in order to build a free, sustainable and liveable society.

For four weeks, national and international artists of all disciplines (fine arts, literature, performing arts, music, film, photography, media art, interdisciplinary projects) are invited to participate in such a social sculpture in Kalbe and to contribute their own project ideas.

The scholarship includes

• Free accommodation for the scholarship holders
• Temporary, exceptional studios and working spaces
• Basic stock of working materials, tools and technical equipment
• Funding of a travel allowance and, if applicable, a supplement to the visa fee (exclusively for international fellows)
• Artist sponsorship of a Kalbenser during the stay
• Possibility to exhibit your own works in the gallery “die 8”.

Contribution of the scholarship holder

• Participation in weekly studio tours with artist talks and presentation of own work
• Presence of the artist during the residency
• In addition, there is the possibility to organize further program points, e.g. in the form of an exhibition, performance, reading, workshop or other formats

Requirements
The call is addressed to national and international artists, collectives or students of all disciplines: fine arts, literature, performing arts, music, film, photography, media art, interdisciplinary projects. Without age restriction.

Application documents to be submitted

• fully completed application form incl. project idea (see homepage)
• curriculum vitae
• Portfolio with max. 10 works (no originals)
• if applicable, letter of recommendation
• if applicable, copy of a current matriculation certificate

Application deadline: 15th January 2022

Applicants living in Germany exclusively by mail to:

Künstlerstadt Kalbe e.V.
Gerichtstraße 26A
39624 Kalbe (Milde)

Applicants living abroad via e-mail:
info@kuenstlerstadt-kalbe.de

The International Winter Campus will be held in compliance with applicable hygiene measures. If necessary, short-term decisions must be made in accordance with the applicable regulation for the containment of the spread of coronavirus.Deadline: 01/15/2022How to Apply: 

Application documents to be submitted

• fully completed application form incl. project idea (see homepage)
• curriculum vitae
• Portfolio with max. 10 works (no originals)
• if applicable, letter of recommendation
• if applicable, copy of a current matriculation certificate

Application deadline: 15th January 2022

Applicants living in Germany exclusively by mail to:

Künstlerstadt Kalbe e.V.
Gerichtstraße 26A
39624 Kalbe (Milde)

Applicants living abroad via e-mail:
info@kuenstlerstadt-kalbe.deContact Information: 

Künstlerstadt Kalbe e.V.
Gerichtstraße 26A
39624 Kalbe (Milde)
info@kuenstlerstadt-kalbe.deWeb Link: http://www.kuenstlerstadt-kalbe.de

Grey Cube Gallery proudly presents the first Painting & Photography online art contest for the month of December 2021. Artists from around the world are welcome to submit. This is the open subject theme. The Gallery will accept entries in 2 different categories (painting and photography). All winning artists will receive a digital award certificate. Winning artwork (Best of Show) will be on the poster of the show. $16 for 2 images, $30 for 4, $42 for 6, and $50 for up to 8 images. Deadline: December 2, 2021.Prize summary: All winning artists will receive a digital award certificate.Prizes Details: 

– All winning artists will receive a digital award certificate.

– Best of Show, first, second and third place will be largely displayed with an article  about the artist and  their work.

– Winning artwork (Best of Show) will be on the poster of the show.

– Depending on the number and quality of all submissions received, Merit awards and Honorable Mention awards may also be presented.

– All accepted works will be displayed with the artist name, title of work, and a link back to their website, or email address if they do not have a website.

– All Accepted artists will receive extensive online publicity and promotion on our website.Deadline: 12/02/2021

Entry Fee:

• Yes

Fee Detail: $16How to Apply: 

– Select an image (up to 2 MB) of your artwork

– Include an artist statement to be included with your art

– Fill out all required information

– Submit your artwork

– Your will be redirected to Pay Pal for payment

– You will receive a confirmation email after your payment is complete.Web Link: https://greycubegallery.com/callforentries/indexx.html

NEOTERIC ABSTRACT X This call is for a thematic exhibition dedicated to abstract art. The exhibition will be held at the Limner Gallery, April 7 – 30th, 2022 and is open to all forms of abstraction, from the geometric to the lyrical, from the precise to the raw. There is a $500 cash award. The entry deadline is January 31, 2022.
The entry form is online at:  

Prize summary: $500 cash prize

Deadline: 01/31/2022

Entry Fee:

• Yes

Fee Detail:

 $35.00

How to Apply: 

Application by email, directions are on the entry formWeb

Link:

Deadline
28 February 2022

Status: Closed.

Results announcement: March 16th 2022

See also: Art residency in Canada

Who may enter
The competition is open to artists from around the world.

Short description

The competition is an initiative of Yamana Gold, a Canadian company that owns and operates gold, silver and copper mines in Canada, Chile, Brazil and Argentina.

Artists are welcome to submit  works in any medium: paintings, drawings, mixed media, sculptures, photography.

Each entrant should submit digital image of the artwork through the online registration form.

Entry fees
The competition is free to enter.

Prizes
• 1st prize: $7,000
• 2nd prize: $3,500
• 3rd prize: $1,500

Competition website
For further information visit the official competition website.

Have you ever wondered if your art is good enough? 

There is no secret that most of the artists have this inner dialogue where they ask questions and compare their work with those of their idols and this brings a lot of confusion and anxiety- “Is My Work Good Enough, Is It Contemporary”?

Well- any work of art in any style has the potential to become great even a simple line on a piece of paper and even the great artists that are now Legends had the same questions during their life. 

The purpose of this exhibition is to create a dialogue between artists, artworks and the audience and to demonstrate that any form of art in any style can be successful. 

This Exhibition Will Take Place At Our Newly Opened Space In Tower Bridge. 

The new space is located in Tower bridge, one of most iconic places in the world and the most visited place in the whole UK. 

The space is nestled between modern and classic London icons: The Shard 4 minutes away, Tower Bridge 1 minute away, London Bridge 2 minutes away. 

With a blend of traditional Victorian brick walls and a central private bar just for our audience, the space is unique in the whole city of London. 

There are no subject restrictions just a couple of guidelines. 

Submission Guidelines- Please read carefully.

To apply simply email us 3 images of your work (3 different works) Title_ Size_ Medium_ Price and a short bio, no more than 150 words at boomergallery@gmail.com. 

Eligible media but not limited: 

painting | sculpture | photography | digital art | Installation | video | prints | textile | illustrations | etc

To make a submission is absolutely free but we do charge a £165 fee for each  participating artist as we only charge 15% sales commission and that includes: 

printed catalogs | admin | graphic designer | champagne | caviar | professional photographer | hostess | security | bartender. 

Important dates: 

– the open call will run until 10 December. 

– artworks delivery date is 16 December. 

– the exhibition will run from 17 December until 23 December with a private view on 17 December – 6:00 to 9:00 pm at our gallery space in Tower Bridge London. 

Alternatives. 

We had a lot of enquires from foreign artists to exhibit with us but sometimes shipping the work to London in time might be a bit difficult in this challenging period, that’s why we’ve come up with an alternative! If you are one of the accepted artists and you find it hard to ship your work to us, you can send us photos of your work and we can print and frame it for you at no additional cost. 

We have 3 available sizes for the frame: 

32/32 cm

30/40 cm 

40/50 cm 

Event. 

This will be a physical event and it will take place in our new gallery space in Tower Bridge- London. 

Important. 

As we run multiple open calls, please make sure you include in the email line the open call you apply for. 

Good luck to you all!Deadline: 12/10/2021

Entry Fee:

• Yes

Fee Detail: To make a submission is free but we do charge a £165 acceptance fee.

How to Apply: 

To apply simply email us 3 images of your work (3 different works) Title_ Size_ Medium_ Price and a short bio, no more than 150 words at boomergallery@gmail.com.Contact Information: 

Contact- Constantin at

boomergallery@gmail.com.

Web Link: