 |
 |
ARLIS-SE, the Southeast chapter of ARLIS/NA, is pleased to announce our 2013 Mary Ellen LoPresti Publication Award Winners. The LoPresti award recognizes and encourages excellence in art publications from the southeastern United States. http://arlis-se.org/awards/lopresti-award/29th-annual-lopresti-award-winners/ EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Georgia Museum of Art. Art Interrupted: Advancing American Art and the Politics of Cultural Diplomacy. Athens, GA: Georgia Museum of Art, 2012. The role of American modern art in the fight against communism is the subject of this exhibition and its full color catalogue. Rather than a general survey of the American avant-garde, this collection reunites the curatorial efforts of art historian J. LeRoy Davidson who, in 1946, purchased paintings he believed would showcase the individualism, creativity, and vitality of American modernism. However, the exhibition he intended to showcase to the world never happened until now. The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art (Auburn University), the Georgia Museum of Art (University of Georgia), and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art (University of Oklahoma) worked together to bring the collection-which had been auctioned in 1948 and dispersed around the country-together again. The catalogue is beautifully designed and includes scholarly essays and biographical notes on each artist and art work alongside full color reproductions. An impressive record of both American art and record of one man's curatorial vision of art as a political and ideological weapon, this book was the standout in the exhibition catalogue entries and favorite of our judges. MONOGRAPH Sartisky, Michael, J. Richard Gruber, John R. Kemp, and Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. A Unique Slant of Light: The Bicentennial History of Art in Louisiana. New Orleans, Louisiana: Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 2012. This ambitious publication, the cornerstone of a three-part project celebrating the bicentennial of Louisiana statehood in 2012, impressively commemorates and contextualizes Louisiana art and visual history. Three-hundred full-color reproductions from museums, private collections, and archives around the state compliment an impressive range of scholarship outlining historical periods, artistic production, and evolving styles, from nineteenth century Carnival design to a deeply-rooted folk craft tradition. As a stand-alone work, the depth and breadth of content matched with a handsome layout and design merit accolades. The accompanying website, KnowLA: the Digital Encyclopedia of Louisiana History & Culture, and digitized quarterly arts journal, Louisiana Cultural Vistas, further enrich A Unique Slant of Light, linking to more essays and artist biographies and bibliographies. HONORABLE MENTION: Exhibition Catalogue Hess, F. Scott., et al. The Paternal Suit: Heirlooms From the F. Scott Hess Family Foundation. Charleston, S.C.: Co-published by the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art and the Long Beach Museum of Art, 2012. Walking a fine line (and sometimes slipping over) between historical truth and artistic fiction, this fascinating catalogue details the history of the Hess family from the 17th century to present. F. Scott Hess, a California-based contemporary artist, created a foundation in his family's name in 2005 and has spent five years performing genealogical research and collecting and creating artifacts which illustrate how personal history entwines with grand narratives of sex, death, nationhood, heroism, and family. Much of his research took place in libraries and museums in the Southeast with many of the stories focused on southern history. The judging panel was transfixed by this record of an exhibition that seemed part history museum, part cabinet of curiosities, and part con, with a captivating approach to narrative within the museum context. Well presented in full color with dozens of illustrations of (both real and imaginary) historic records, objects, costumes, and stories, this catalogue was a unique submission and worthy of special commendation. HONORABLE MENTION: Monograph Rehder, John B. Tennessee Log Buildings: A Folk Tradition. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2012. Focusing on the history, design and construction of Tennessee log buildings, this volume pays homage to a fading tradition while meticulously documenting the history and remains of Tennessee's treasured folk architecture. The late Rehder, a professor of geography at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, presents a compelling overview of the history of vernacular architecture and settlement patterns in the state before launching into the evolution of its log structures, including houses, barns, outbuildings, and other "exceptional log places." The text is illustrated with over one-hundred images, including many of the author's crisp and detailed black-and-white photographs of sites, notch types, and other structural features. Covering forty-two counties and based on extensive Tennessee Historical Commission building survey data as well as the author's forty years of field experience, the book blends rigorous scholarship with a reverent appreciation for Tennessee folkways. Special thanks to this year's LoPresti committee, Caroline Cason Barratt and Emily Luken (co-chairs), Teresa Burke, Caley Cannon, and Melissa Tufts. Past LoPresti winners are listed here: http://arlis-se.org/awards/lopresti-award/#previous, with the physical copies housed at the Duke University East Campus Library in Durham, N. C. Please encourage southeastern publishers to submit 2013 art publications for the 30th Annual LoPresti Award Competition. Details and entry form here: http://arlis-se.org/30th-annual-mary-ellen-lopresti-award/. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Emily Luken Bibliographer for Art, Philosophy & Religion Collection Development Department University of Georgia Main Library Athens, GA 30602 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | (706) 542-0688 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/join.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~