COURTESY THE ARTIST AND CANADA
Today the United Section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA-USA) announced the nominees for its 2014 awards, which honor exhibitions, performances, writers, and blogs. More than 400 AICA will cast ballots to decide first- and second-place winners. Looking over the list may make you feel pretty good about 2014—there really was some fine work on offer! Among the highlights: painter Katherine Bernhardt was tapped in two categories. Below, the complete list of nominees.
1) BEST PRESENTATION IN AN ALTERNATIVE VENUE
(alternative space, public art, project space)
- Kara Walker: A Subtlety / Domino Sugar Factory, Brooklyn / Creative Time
- Greer Lankton, LOVE ME / Participant Inc., New York
- Andres Serrano: Residents of New York / Washington Square Park area
- @Large: Ai Weiwei at Alcatraz / Alcatraz Island, CA / For-Site Foundation
- A Certain Slant of Light: Spencer Finch at the Morgan / Morgan Library Atrium, New York
- Faith Wilding: Fearful Symmetries, A Retrospective / Threewalls, Chicago
- Wu Tsang: Moved by the Motion / Diverse Works, Houston
- Bridge, by Glenn Kaino / Naval Building 170, Washington D.C. / 5 x 5 / Curated by Shamin M. Momim
2) BEST TIME-BASED FORMAT
(performance, video film, sound)
- Adam Shecter: New Year / Eleven Rivington, New York
- Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors / Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
- Mary Reid Kelley: Working Objects and Videos / Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY / Curated by Daniel Belasco
- “Dutchman” by Rashid Johnson / Red Square Russian and Turkish Baths, Chicago, IL / Performa Commission / Curated by Adrienne Edwards
- “MEEM 4 MIAMI: A Story Ballet About the Internet” by Ryan McNamara / Miami Grand Theater at Castle Beach Resort, Miami / Performa Commission
- Stan Douglas: Luanda-Kinshasa / David Zwirner, New York
- Gerard and Kelly: Timelining / The Kitchen, New York / Curated by Tim Griffin
- Irina Botea: It Is Now A Matter of Learning Hope / Threewalls, Chicago
3) BEST SHOW IN A COMMERCIAL SPACE IN NEW YORK
- Nancy Grossman: The Edge of Always, Constructions from the 1960s / Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York
- Robert Longo / “Gang of Cosmos” / Metro Pictures, New York and “Strike the Sun” / Petzel Gallery, New York
- Picasso and Jacqueline: The Evolution of Style / Pace Gallery, New York
- Stan Douglas: Luanda-Kinshasa / David Zwirner, New York
- Katherine Bernhardt: Stupid, Crazy, Ridiculous, Funny Patterns / CANADA, New York
- Une Danse des Bouffons (or A jester’s dance) by Marcel Dzama / David Zwirner, New York
- Allen Ruppersberg / Greene Naftali, New York
- Robert Rauschenberg: The Fulton Street Studio, 1953–54 / Craig F. Starr, New York
4) BEST SHOW IN A COMMERCIAL SPACE NATIONALLY
- Lizzie Fitch/Ryan Trecartin / Regen Projects, Los Angeles
- Hiroshi Sugimoto: Acts of God / Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
- Jonas Wood / David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles
- Katherine Bernhardt: Doritos and Diet Coke / China Art Objects, Los Angeles
- Margot Bergman: Greetings / Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago
- Mickalene Thomas: I was born to do great things / Kavi Gupta, Chicago
- Donald Moffett: head / Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin, Texas
- Tomas Chimes: The Body in Spirals / Locks Gallery, Philadelphia
5) BEST MONOGRAPHIC MUSEUM SHOW IN NEW YORK
- Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs / MoMA New York / Curated by Karl Buchberg and Jodi Hauptman
- Robert Gober: The Heart Is Not a Metaphor / MoMA, New York / Curated by Ann Temkin
- Chris Ofili: Night and Day / New Museum, New York / Curated by Massimiliano Gioni
- Sigmar Polke: Alibis / MoMA, New York / Curated by Kathy Halbreich
- Maria Lassnig / MoMA PS1, Queens, New York / Curated by Peter Eleey
- Jeff Koons / Whitney Museum of American Art, New York / Curated by Scott Rothkopf
- Madame Cezanne / Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY / Curated by Dita Amory
- Charles Gaines: Gridwork 1974-1989 / The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY / Curated by Naima J. Keith
6) BEST MONOGRAPHIC MUSEUM SHOW NATIONALLY
- Beatriz Milhazes: Jardim Botanico / Perez Art Museum, Miami / Curated by Tobias Ostrander
- Christopher Williams: The Production Line of Happiness / Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago / Curated by Matthew S. Witkovsky
- Pierre Huyghe / Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles / Curated by Jarrett Gregory
- Keith Haring: The Political Line / deYoung Museum, San Francisco / Curated by Dieter Buchhart
- Simon Starling: Metamorphology / MCA Chicago, Chicago / Curated by Dieter Roelstraete / June 7–November 6, 2014
- Richard Estes’ Realism / Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. / Curated by Patterson Sims, Jessica May, and Virginia Mecklenburg
- Dear Nemesis, Nicole Eisenman / ICA, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia / Curated by Kelly Shindler / September 19–December 28, 2014
- Mel Chin: Rematch / New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans / Curated by Miranda Lash / February 21–May 25, 2014
- Robert Motherwell: The East Hampton Years, 1944-1952 / Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, N.Y. / Curated by Phyllis Tuchman
- John Zurier: MATRIX 255 / UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, Calif. / Curated by Apsara DiQuinzio
- Robert Smithson’s New Jersey / Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, N.J. / Curated by Phyllis Tuchman and Gail Stavitsky
7) BEST THEMATIC MUSEUM SHOW IN NEW YORK
- Here and Elsewhere / New Museum, New York / Curated by Massamiliano Gioni / July 16–September 28, 2014
- Italian Futurism, 1909–1944: Reconstructing the Universe / Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York / Curated by Vivien Greene
- ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow / Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York / Curated by Valerie Hillings
- Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection / Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / Curated by Rebecca Rabinow and Emily Braun
- Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 6th Century / Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / Curated John Guy
- From the Margins: Lee Krasner and Norman Lewis / The Jewish Museum, New York, N.Y. / Curated by Norman L. Kleeblatt
8) BEST THEMATIC MUSEUM SHOW NATIONALLY
- Fiber: Sculpture 1960-Present / ICA Boston, Boston / Curated by Jenelle Porter
- Neo-Impressionism and the Dream of Realities: Painting, Poetry, Music / The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC / Curated by Cornelia Homburg
- Gorgeous / Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA / Curated by Alison Harding and Forrest McGill / June 20–September 14, 2014
- Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence / The Menil Collection, Houston, TX / Curated by Josef Helfenstein
9) BEST CRITICISM
- Jed Perl / New York Review of Books / “The Cult of Jeff Koons,” September 25, 2014 and “You Can’t Catch Picasso,” December 18, 2014
- Holland Cotter / The New York Times
- Jenni Quilter / New York Painters and Poets, Rizzoli / Neon and Daylight, Rizzoli
- Robert Atkins / “Everybody’s Art” in Art in America, March 2014
- Lilly Wei / Essay from Beauty Reigns catalogue, McNay Art Museum
- Hilton Als / “I Don’t Remember,” essay from Robert Gober: The Heart Is Not A Metaphor catalogue, MoMA
- Peter Schjeldahl / “In With The New,” in The New Yorker, October 27, 2014
- Peter Plagens / Bruce Nauman: the True Artist, Phaidon
10) BEST ART REPORTING
- Randy Kennedy / The New York Times
- Phillip Kennicott / “An Art Loan from Bill Cosby Draws the Smithsonian into a National Debate,” The Washington Post, November 20, 2014
- Carol Kino / “Marion Goodman’s New London Gallery,” Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2014
- Jillian Steinhauer / Hyperallergic
- Jen Graves / Seattle Stranger
11) BEST BLOG
- haberarts.com by John Haber
- Art F City
- The Silo by Raphael Rubinstein
- Hyperallergic
- Big Red & Shiny: Our Daily Red (Boston)
- Newcity Art (Chicago)