KATONAH, N.Y.- The Katonah Museum of Art presents Tri-State Juried Exhibition | Artistic Fragments: Art 2005, on view through June 26, 2005. The Katonah Museum of Art is pleased to announce the winners of Artistic Fragments: Art 2005, a juried exhibition drawn from works created by residents of the tri-state area. A $1000 first prize was awarded to Craig S. Dascanio of West Simsbury, CT for his piece Tabula Reclamatia; a second prize of $750 was awarded to David Fox of Brewster, NY for his piece Junta; and third prize of $500 went to Charlee Swanson of Montclair, NJ for his piece American Flag. Honorable mentions were given to Laura Moriarty for Gemboree; Mikhail Gubin for Mother and Daughter; and Antonia Papatzanaki for Untitled.

Benny Andrews, a painter, printmaker, cultural leader and arts advocate whose work is in the permanent collections of major museums throughout the country selected the works in the exhibition. Andrews has juried countless exhibitions around the country - both as an individual juror and on panels of judges. In describing his method he has said, “I judge each piece intuitively. The challenge is to keep an open mind and not have a ‘professional standard’ that is closed to diversity.”

For Artistic Fragments Andrews had the advantage of looking at original works, not slides. “When you look at slides you are looking at inks,.” says Andrews “there is no texture and no differentiation between quality of materials.” Artistic Fragments is an eclectic exhibition that includes work in all media created by artists from all levels of accomplishment. The exhibition itself is a fragment which embraces the notion that a single piece of art does not represent an artist’s body of work and further, that the approximately 100 works in this exhibition, selected from over 1000 submissions, is just a portion of a larger community of individuals.
Andrews joins the Katonah Museum in believing that juried exhibition play an important role in an artist’s development. “It is very demoralizing not to be able to have your work seen and so in a way juried exhibitions are a gift to artists,” says Andrews adding, “especially having the opportunity to show work in a reputable place where it will be seen by an appreciative audience.” Artistic Fragments represents one juror’s emotional response to a large body of work, to choices made on a specific day without concern for trends, themes, politics, or the beauty of spring. Andrews cautions that “artists whose work gets juried into a show shouldn’t get carried away because they may not get in next time and artists whose work isn’t should remember that there’s always another show.”