Art in your backyard
AMOA-Arthouse chooses Texas Prize 2012 winner: Austin artist Jeff Williams
Just in time for the West Austin Studio Tour throughout downtown and beyond, AMOA-Arthouse announced their final decision Friday evening for the 2012 recipient of the triennial Texas Prize.
Of the three Texas candidates vying for the prestigious honor and a hefty $30,000 paycheck, Austin-based conceptual artist Jeff Williams was declared the winner for his sculptural installation of time-lapse on Texas-based architectural structures.
On the second floor gallery of The Jones Center, Williams presents his site-specific constructions that perpetually change and react to the space over time. Texas fossils gradually dissolve from manufactured chemicals, liquid sacs slowly ooze down a forever marked wall, and suspended video work displays the architectural changes done to the very gallery containing the exhibit.
The Texas Prize seeks to honor artists from the state who have made "significant, innovative contributions" to the state's contemporary art scene.
In a statement put out by the Texas Prize jurors, they explain: "[Williams's] installation was remarkable for the way in which it addressed the complex geographical and architectural history of the exhibition site and used an inventive sculptural approach to mark intersecting and distinct measures of time."
Based on the quality of this year's competition, the jury's decision was not unanimous, although it was based on a majority. Garnering votes as well were Houston artist Jamal Cyrus, for his jazz-based performance and sculptures, and Houstonite Will Henry's surreal landscapes depicting Southwestern iconography.
The Texas Prize seeks to honor artists from the state who have made "significant, innovative contributions" to the state's contemporary art scene. Williams now joins the company of the two previous Texas Prize winners, Katrina Moorhead and Eileen Maxson, who have since established names for themselves on the international art scene.
All of this year's Texas Prize works will be on display at the AMOA-Arthouse Jones Center until July 22.