2017 Award Finalists

Congratulations to the 2017 Global Fine Art Award Finalists!

GFAA 2017 Youniversal Video 

The GFAA Judges voted for this elite group of 33 exhibitions, selected from the slate of 85 Nominees which was culled from over 2,000 exhibitions reviewed by the GFAA research team and open call submissions.

Among the Finalists are some of the biggest names in art – The Royal Academy, Tate Modern and Tate Britain in London; New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).  Many smaller exhibitions and museums are included as well, exemplifying the mission of GFAA to reach a broader audience for fine art.

Twenty (60%) of the GFAA 2017 Finalists are from smaller institutions, including vast geographic and artistically diverse programs such as The Islamic Treasures of Africa. From Timbuktu to Zanzibar at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, to The Garden – End of Times; Beginning of Times from the ARoS Aarhus Kunstsmuseum in Denmark which included works from over 80 artists from around the world, created throughout several centuries.

“We are honored that this exhibition, which combined objects from the Getty Center and the Getty Villa to demonstrate the deep and lasting engagement that medieval people had with the art and culture of classical antiquity, has been nominated for this prestigious award,” says Getty antiquities curator Kenneth Lapatin.  “By presenting groupings of ancient and medieval objects from different periods and regions we hoped to dispel the myth of the ‘Dark Ages’ and show the many and varied meanings that the classical past held throughout Europe long before the Renaissance,” says exhibition co-curator, Kristen Collins of the Getty’s Department of Manuscripts.

Only Finalists are eligible to win the Award in their respective category, but all 85 Nominees are eligible to win the Youniversal and YOU-2 Awards, which are decided on by popular votes. The Youniversal Award, presented by Vastari, represents the most popular exhibition of the year. Voting takes place from January 15th through the 28th. Individuals may vote once a day for the duration of the voting period. Top Nominees, based on the highest number of votes, will also be eligible to participate in the YOU-2 voting contest on twitter, to take place in February.

The thirteen juried awards and two public awards will be presented live on March 8, 2018 at the 4th Annual Award Ceremony and Gala to be held at 583 Park Avenue, a historic New York landmark. Guests include many Nominees, as well as benefactors, patrons, corporate sponsors, collectors, gallerists and art aficionados.     To purchase tickets, Questions? contact globalfineartawards@gmail.com 

About the GFAA Award Ceremony and Gala

The event will be presided over by the GFAA Advisory Board and Judges – Founder and President, Judy Holm; Advisory Board Chair Lawrence Shindell; and Honorary Chair Hedva Ser, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and Special Envoy for cultural diplomacy, promoting cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace through art. The master of ceremonies is Peter Trippi, member of the GFAA Executive Committee, and Judge Emeritus. Trippi is editor-in-chief of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine.

Guests include Shirin Neshat, Nominee for the Global Humanity Award, accompanied by curator Thomas Kellein; Nominated artist Slater B. Bradley, accompanied by Chloe Sevigny; Museum Director Erlend Hoyersten and curator Jacob Vengberg Sevel, nominated for Best Public Art Award for the Triennial at ARos Aarhus Kunstmuseum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Deputy Director of Exhibitions, Quincy Houghton, spokesperson for the five nominations for The Met; Met Nominees Dr. Maxwell (Mike) K. Hearn, Douglas Dillon Chairman of Asian Art, and Dr. Jason Sun, Brooke Russell Astor Curator of Chinese Art; Nominees from the Getty Museum, Co-Curators Dr. Kristen Collins and Dr. Kenneth Lapatin; Hirshhorn Museum Director Melissa Chiu for the nominated Yayoi Kusama exhibition Infinity Mirrors; Mark Lubell, Executive Director, and Erin Barnett, Director of Exhibitions and Collections from the International Center of Photography (ICP); Asia Society Nominee Dr. Adriana Proser; Nominee Dr. Catherine Whistler, Curator from the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University; Diane Tuft, Nominated photographer for the show Arctic Melt, represented by Marlborough Gallery in New York; Ruya Foundation’s Directors and Co-Curators of the Iraq Pavilion from the Venice Biennale, Tamara Chalabi and Paolo Columbo; Nominee Baiqu Gonkar, Director of Art Represent; Kris Callens, Director of the Fries Museum (Netherlands), which organized the Lawrence Alma-Tadema exhibition seen at three museums across Europe; Susie Guzman, Director at Hauser & Wirth for Nominees Philip Guston and Lygia Pape; Galerie Lelong & Co.’s Mary Sabbatino for nominated artists Jaume Plensa, Andy Goldsworthy and the late Ana Mendieta; Gallerist Alison Jacques also for the late Ana Mendieta; Raquel Cecilia Mendieta, niece and film archivist of Nominated artist Ana Mendieta for the premier GFAA Global Humanity award; Munich-based curators Sam Bardouil and Till Fellrath, whose exhibition Art et Liberté: Rupture, War and Surrealism in Egypt premiered at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and concludes at the Tate Liverpool.

Eleven galleries exhibiting at the concurrent Armory Show, a cultural collaborator of GFAA, represent more than fifteen 2017 GFAA Nominees including: Yayoi Kusama, Kerry James Marshall, Andy Goldsworthy, Jaume Plensa, Ana Mendieta, Wifredo Lam, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, Irving Penn, Ai Weiwei and William Eggleston.

In addition to the award ceremony the evening of March 8, GFAA is holding a series of three panels, hosted by corporate sponsor, K&L Gates LLP. These panels, taking place the morning of March 8, will be moderated by Dean Phelus, Senior Director of Leadership Programs at the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), and GFAA Judge; and by Desiree Moore, Partner at K&L Gates and member of the GFAA Executive Committee, Chair of Young Visionaries Committee.

The GFAA program will also feature its first event hosted by the Young Visionaries Committee, to take place at the National Arts Club on Gramercy Park, immediately following the Award Ceremony.

About the GFAA Program

The GFAA program honors innovation and excellence in exhibition design, historical context, educational value, and public appeal. The program’s mission is to develop interest and passion for fine art, and to further its educational role in society.

GFAA is the first program ever created to recognize annually the best curated art and design exhibitions and installations worldwide. This program includes exhibitions in museums, galleries, art fairs and biennials, as well as public installations. The GFAA vision  is to elevate the importance and relevancy of fine art in the world today: economically, socially, and culturally.

The GFAA judging, research and nominating processes

A broad set of criteria is utilized to research and assess the prospective nominees, with continuous review of over 50 sources of print and online art editorial and critiques. Through these sources, more than 200 museums and 2,000 exhibitions are vetted during the annual art research as well as personalized assessments based on exhibition viewing.

In addition to the research-based nominations, GFAA accepts open calls from museums, biennials, fairs, galleries and other art organizations. Individual patrons may nominate their favorite exhibitions as well.

The Nominating Committee reviews the slate prepared by the Art Research Committee, and presents their findings and final approvals to the Judges. The Judges modify and select the final slate of Nominees, then vote on the Finalists and Winners. The timeframe for eligibility this year was for exhibitions and installations opening between Aug 1, 2016 and Jul 31, 2017. The basic criteria for eligibility is that each nominated exhibit must be curated.

Nominees and winners for the thirteen awards are selected by a panel of expert judges. Another integral aspect of the GFAA program is to engage the general public, and include their voice in the program results. Public voting takes place online from Jan 15 to 28, and the most popular exhibition wins the Youniversal Award.  A second public award is YOU-2, selected from twitter votes.

2017 Corporate Sponsors

ARIS Title Insurance Corporation, Baccarat Hotel, Crowell & Moring LLP, Galerie Lelong & Co., K&L Gates LLP, Liberty International Underwriters, Louis Xlll Cognac, Pryor Cashman LLP, Wiggin and Dana LLP

Media, Arts, Educational and Cultural Partners

Alserkal Avenue (Dubai), American Alliance of Museums (AAM), Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), De la Cruz Collection (Miami), DSL Collection (Paris), Family Office Elite magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, Fractured Atlas, Leighton House Museum, Mapme, National Arts Club, Paddle8, Traveling Exhibits Network, Vastari, White Rabbit Collection (Sydney), world red eye productions

The GFAA program recognizes sweeping period-themed exhibitions, shows with innovative perspectives of traditional subjects, and other exhibitions and public installations of individual artists or groups of artists’ works- featuring works by timeless masters, from Raphael and Rodin, to Mondrian and Monet, as well as some of the most important artists living today.