The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today

FIRST PRIZE
Anthony Cuts under the Williamsburg Bridge, Morning

On walks around her Brooklyn neighborhood during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Alison Elizabeth Taylor encountered the hair groomer Anthony Payne, who, with his workplace shuttered, had taken his scissors, mirror, and chair to the streets. Payne sought to financially support the Black Lives Matter movement, especially in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, and turned over proceeds from his donation-based haircuts.


Alison Elizabeth Taylor 
2020, Marquetry hybrid (wood veneers, oil paint, acrylic paint, inkjet prints, shellac, and sawdust on wood)
Collection of the artist © Alison Elizabeth Taylor 

SECOND PRIZE 
Elizah Leonard 
"Strong Unrelenting Spirits” series

Tom Jones, who grew up in the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, focuses on Native American present and future while acknowledging how they can coexist with the past. In this multilayered portrait, he introduces us to Elizah Leonard, a champion dancer and recipient of an All-American Scholarship for wrestling.

Tom Jones
2019, Inkjet print with beads, rhinestones, and shells 
IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico; museum purchase, 2020 © Tom Jones

THIRD PRIZE
untitled (man)

As a young child, the photographer Pao Houa Her emigrated from Laos to the United States. She was one of the thousands of Hmong refugees to resettle in Minneapolis–St. Paul, having experienced displacement as a result of the Laotian Civil War (1959–1975) and the U.S. “Secret War” (c. 1964–c. 1973), two conflicts that were imbricated with the Vietnam War. 


In photographs such as untitled (man), taken at a Hmong senior center in St. Paul, Her brings attention to the long-lasting effects that the Secret War has had on the Hmong refugee community.

Pao Houa Her
2019, Inkjet print 
Collection of the artist, courtesy of Bockley Gallery © Pao Houa Her

COMMENDED
Killed Negative #13 / After Arthur Rothstein “Killing the Negative” series

Drawing from the vast photographic archive of the Farm Security Administration (FSA), held by the Library of Congress, the artist Joel Daniel Phillips and the writer Quraysh Ali Lansana bring forward images, such as this, that were never meant to be seen. Roy Stryker, director of the FSA’s Historical Section in the 1930s, sent photographers across the country to document the Great Depression’s hardships. He also determined which images could and could not circulate, preventing many from appearing in print by hole-punching (what the FSA termed, “killing”) their negatives. With tight control, Stryker crafted the period’s visual legacy and its history.


Joel Daniel Phillips
2020, Charcoal, graphite, and ink on paper 
Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody © Joel Daniel Phillips

In response to Arthur Rothstein’s “killed” negative, Phillips and Lansana have rendered an anonymous resident of Eighty Acres in Glassboro, New Jersey, larger than life while expanding our understanding of life during the Great Depression.

COMMENDED
People of the Sun (Grandma and Grandpa Santana)

An elderly couple faces us with the gentle authority that old age provides. People of the Sun (Grandma and Grandpa Santana) is a portrait of Vincent Valdez’s maternal grandparents. “My grandparents spent most of their time outside,” the artist recalled. “Grandpa spent his entire life working under the blazing Texas sun as a carpenter and yard worker, cutting lawns in the wealthy communities of San Antonio right up until he passed away. Grandma was constantly working with her hands—raising kids, washing, sewing clothes, and tending the plants in her yard.”

Vincent Valdez 
2019, Oil on canvas 
Collection of Alexa Brundage © Vincent Valdez

COMMENDED
Self-Portrait of the Artist
“Out and Bad” series

 “In my world, skin is high-tech, amorphous, and armored,” the artist Stuart Robertson observes. “Blackness is percussive, lustrous, flexible, and indestructible.” Self-Portrait of the Artist depicts a fragment of a man—half of his face and his upper torso—shiny and monumental. A black beard delineates his jaw, and a small gold hoop adorns his ear. Although the figure is cropped beyond recognition, the work’s title provides a clue.

Stuart Robertson  
2020, Aluminum, earth, acrylic paint, enamel, paper, metallic bubble wrap, sequins, and gold foil on wood 
Collection of Deborah Beckmann Kotzubei © Stuart Robertson

COMMENDED
Milk

Elsa María Meléndez routinely crosses the boundaries between artistic mediums in large-scale artworks that command space and attention. Combining silkscreen, drawing, and various needlework techniques, Milk portrays the artist charging forward, determined. She carries a limp bull and advances while her breasts drip glistening drops of milk. Created six months into the COVID-19 lockdown, this artwork encapsulates Meléndez’s reflection on the fight for gender equality in Puerto Rico.

Elsa María Meléndez
2020, Canvas with silkscreen, embroidery, ink, and other textiles 
Collection of the artist © Elsa María Meléndez

Taishya, Riding High over the Ocean of Storms 
(From the series “Superpower Women in Space”)
Paula Gillen
2019, Inkjet print
Collection of the artist © Paula Gillen

Dad, at Manmade Pond
David Hilliard
2020, Inkjet prints
Collection of the artist © David Hilliard

In Love With My Best Friend 
(From the series “The Secrets Project”)
Robert Schefman
2019, Oil on canvas
Collection of Michael Farrell and Marc Herrick © Robert Schefman

Cherry
Narsiso Martinez
2020, Ink, gouache, charcoal, collage, liquid-leaf, and matte gel on produce cardboard box
Collection of Andrew Stearn © Narsiso Martinez

the un-doing
Adama Delphine Fawundu
2021, Digital video on framed monitor, with sound (12:41 min)
Collection of the artist © Adama Delphine Fawundu

Shana, December 19 
Grade Solomon
2020, Inkjet print
Collection of the artist © Grade Solomon

Toast 
Laura Karetzky 
2019, Oil on wood
Collection of the artist © Laura Karetzky

Risk Picture: Achy Obejas 
Riva Lehrer 
2020, Charcoal, paper, thread, glass, fluorite, wire, and other media
Lent by the artist and Zolla Liberm © Riva Lehrer

Darkroom Mirror (0X5A0752) 
(From the series “Dark Room” and “Portraits”)
Paul Mpagi Sepuya
2019, Inkjet print
Collection of the artist, courtesy of DOCUMENT, Chicago, and Vielmetter Los Angeles © Paul Mpagi Sepuya

The Gallegos Twins from Belen, NM 
(From the series “Barrios de Nuevo México: Southwest Stories of Vindication”)
Frank Blazquez
2019, Inkjet print
Collection of the artist © Frank Blazquez

American Woman
Holly Bass
Performance (approx. 7 hours) and digital video with sound (16:19 min)
Collection of the artist © Holly Bass

Kyung's Gift in Pojagi 
(From the series “Women in Possession of Good Fortune”)
Kira Nam Greene
2019, Oil, gouache, colored pencil, and acrylic ink on canvas
Courtesy of Contemporary Art Matters © Kira Nam Greene

A portrait of the comet boy as a bearer of memories 
Timothy Lee
2019, Silk, heat-transfer ink, gold leaf, and oil on canvas
Collection of the artist © Timothy Lee

Travis (After the Fall) 
(From the series “Rodeo Lifers”)
Gustave Blache III 
2019, Oil on wood with interview
Collection of the artist © Gustave Blache III

Bertha, I'd like to know where you got the notion
Donna Castellanos
2020, Fabric, zippers, pin cushions, snaps, paper packaging, knitting needles, and other sewing notions
Collection of the artist © Donna Castellanos

Glimpse 
(From the series “City Space”) 
Clarissa Bonet
2019, Inkjet print
Collection of the artist, courtesy of Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago © Clarissa Bonet

Gracie 
(From the series “Please Take Off Your Shoes” ) 
Jarod Lew
2019 (printed 2021), Inkjet print
Collection of the artist © Jarod Lew

Bride 
TR Ericsson
2019, Nicotine on gessoed wood
Private Collection © TR Ericsson

Essex Boston & Family 1 
(From the series "Essex Boston & Family")
Michelle Elzay
2019–2020, Nine dye transfer prints
Collection of the artist © Michelle Elzay


 

2020 (Temma with her father and her Aunt Amy's quilt) 
Tim Lowly
2020, Graphite on board
Collection of Jackye and Curtis Finch Jr. © Tim Lowly

“On Either Side of the Window (Portraits during Covid-19)”
Rania Matar
2020, Inkjet print
Collection of the artist © Rania Matar

Promise Me
Cheryl Mukherji
2020, Digital video with sound (7:37 min.)
Collection of the artist © Cheryl Mukherji

She Waited for Her Family from this Point in Place 
Khánh H. Lê
2021, Acrylic paint, paper, and plastic jewels on canvas
Collection of the artist © Khánh H. Lê

Deeper into the Isolation of Self Information and Gender 
Ilene Spiewak
2020, Acrylic paint and charcoal on canvas
Collection of the artist © Ilene Spiewak

Growing Up Ethan
Josephine Sittenfeld
2019, Digital video with sound (15:20 min)
Collection of the artist  © Josephine Sittenfeld

Glen Eden
Rebecca Blandón
2020, Digital video with sound (14:28 min)
Collection of the artist © Rebecca Blandón     

Thank you Jesus, for what you are going to do 
(From the series "To commit to memory")
Lois Bielefeld
2020, Digital video with sound (19:53 min)
Collection of the artist  © Lois Bielefeld

Refugees Crossing The Border Wall into South Texas
Rigoberto A. Gonzalez
2020, Oil on linen
Varmar Private Collection  © Rigoberto A. Gonzalez

Kyung's Gift in Pojagi (From the series “Women in Possession of
Good Fortune”)
Kira Nam Greene
2019, Oil, gouache, colored pencil, and acrylic ink on canvas
Courtesy of Contemporary Art Matters
© Kira Nam Greene

Cutting Edge 
(From the series “Kindred Spirits”) 
Inga Guzyte
2020, Wood and used skateboards
Collection of the artist  © Inga Guzyte

Wild Flowers 
Maia Cruz Palileo
2019, Oil on canvas
Collection of Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger © Maia Cruz Palileo

Firefly 
(From the series “Mutual Recognition”) 
Keegan Holden
2019, Inkjet print
Collection of the artist © Keegan Holden