Sartorial Roadmap: My First ArtPrize

Shortly after arriving back in Michigan my brother invited me to head up to Grand Rapids with him to check out Artprize. It's an art competition that is open to anybody in the world to submit pretty much anything they'd like as long as they can find a place for it. The pieces are voted on by spectators only, and it awards the largest art-prize in the world, $250,000 to the winner. There is literally art of all kinds throughout the city from coffee shops, to trees, street corners and MORE (164 venues to be exact). Obviously I couldn't get a look at everything I wanted to on Tuesday night, so last Friday I went back for more...check these things out...

Unbelievably large and 3D The Metaphorest Project was spearheaded by Tracy VanDuinen and put together with the help of student volunteers from the West Michigan Center for Art & Technology.

Both of these pieces were at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the first made of steel pipes and encyclopedia pages. The second took 4 thick sheets of paper and each layer was cut with an x-acto knife (she used over 80 blades). In person it was soo pretty and looked like lace, it reminded me of the Proenza Schouler s/s 11 shibori collection.

LOVED this one of a stadium, the colors are so vibrant and amazing that it just jumped off the canvas.

I ADORED these bears...all carved with a chainsaw.

This blew me away. It was built using wood that had been scorched in a 1217 degree fire in Detroit. It was cool to see how organized the wood could look from one angle and then how crazy and deconstructed it could look from another.

Wish you could see more detail in this...but this entire piece was done in ONE CONTOUR LINE. Starting in Reagan's forehead and ending in Andrew Jackson's hair. This is one of the first pieces I saw, mind was blown.