Artadia Names 2019 Los Angeles Award Winners

March 18, 2019

The nonprofit Artadia has awarded one of its unrestricted prizes of $10,000 to alumna Carmen Argote (M.F.A. Art, 2007; B.A. Art, 2004). Argote was featured in the Hammer Museum's Made In LA 2018 biennial.

Carmen Argote, Arragement of Contained Energies, 2018; Ron Athey performing Acephalous Monster at Performance Space New York, 2018; Diedrick Brackens, in the decadence of silence, 2018.

"Artadia has announced that three artists have won its 2019 Los Angeles awards: Carmen Argote, Ron Athey, and Diedrick Brackens. Each artist will receive $10,000 in unrestricted funds. Brackens, who was named the inaugural recipient of the Marciano Artadia Award, will be given an additional $15,000.

For Artadia’s fifth year providing unrestricted awards to artists in the city, Pavel Pyś, curator of visual arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; Erin Christovale, assistant curator at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles; and the Brooklyn-based artist Zina Saro-Wiwa selected six finalists, which included Eddie Aparicio, Gelare Koshgozaran, and Jennifer Moon. Then Anna Katz, assistant curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, conducted studio visits with Christovale in order to determine the awardees.

“I believe Carmen, Ron, and Diedrick are shining examples of the vast constellation of creativity that drives our city,” Christovale said in a statement. “I appreciate how thoughtful and incredibly dedicated they are to their crafts and how labor intensive their respective practices are. Diedrick weaves worlds with his fingertips, Ron flips the biblical script with his new age theatrical productions and Carmen’s sculptures and installations hold the most profound notions of ‘home.’ I am proud to stand by these brilliant artists who are leading Los Angeles into the future."— Mar. 18, 2019

This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Artforum website.

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