Brand Associates in partnership with Brand Library & Art Center, is pleased to announce the opening of Brand 48 Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, on view from September 12 through October 30, 2020. The exhibition includes 108 works of art selected by juror Dan McCleary from over 900 national submissions. The exhibition will be presented entirely online for the first year in the exhibition’s history due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will be navigable as a 3D gallery, allowing the diverse works to be in conversation with one another. A printed catalogue will accompany the exhibition.

The exhibition will have a live virtual opening on September 12, 2020 at 2pm, in addition to other virtual programming throughout its run.

As the country reckons with a public health crisis and deeply ingrained racial injustice, artists responded to the Brand 48 call with bold creative works grappling with current events and our collective social questioning. As Brand Associates president Debra Thompson remarked:

“I was amazed and moved to have 900 artworks entered for consideration during what has been a very dark period for our country and see this response by artists as testament to the unquenchable nature of the creative drive. This year saw an increase in the number of artworks responding to contemporary events and ideas. In the show you will see artists addressing Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, sexual identity and climate destruction: clear indication of a desire to grapple with important issues that impact us all.”

The works on paper featured in Brand 48 have an astounding range and intimacy on the page and in virtual space.  Prizes totaling $4,700 will be awarded to six works in the show, including the Juror’s award selected by McCleary, the Jane Friend award, the Robert Brown award, and three Brand Associates awards selected by the Board of Brand Associates. These awards will be announced in the September 12th opening event. As juror Dan McCleary, an artist and founder of Art Division, remarked about the selection process:

“Works on paper have an intimacy that is very different from a painting on canvas, but I had to make all of my selections without being able to see the physical artworks since Brand 48 will need to be totally virtual. Even with this limitation, however, this exhibition gives testimony to the power and strength of the individual artistic voice.”

The artwork in Brand 48 is available for sale. 

ABOUT THIS EXHIBITION 

The Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper has been organized and sponsored by  Brand Associates since 1971 in cooperation with the City of Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department. It is one of the region’s most prestigious juried shows, drawing entries from across the country.  Over the years the exhibition has evolved to include an increasingly diverse array of three-dimensional artworks as well as an expanding range of approaches to the two-dimensional paper surface. Exhibition chairperson, Debra Thompson, is the President of  Brand Associates and an adjunct Assistant Professor of Art History at Glendale Community College.  This year’s juror Dan McCleary joins a distinguished roster of jurors who have given their time, energy and expertise over the 48 years this exhibition has been mounted. Included among these artists, gallerists, curators, and educators are Alma Ruiz (2019), Edward Goldman (2018), Leslie Jones (2017), Jack Rutberg (2014), Peter Frank (2011), Lita Albuquerque (2007), Ruth Weisberg (1985) and Millard Sheets (1979) among many other prominent arts professionals.

 

ABOUT THE JUROR

Dan McCleary is an artist and the founder of Art Division, a nonprofit organization offering professional arts training and academic and career support to young adults in the underserved MacArthur Park community in Los Angeles. McCleary’s paintings capture everyday objects and people that are often overlooked, and Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight has called McCleary “among the finest figurative painters working today.” In 2010, he founded Art Division, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing youth aged 18–25 with accessible, affordable arts training and academic support from working artists, filmmakers, writers, educators, and other professionals. Located in the low-income, predominantly Hispanic community around historic MacArthur Park, Art Division is also committed to community engagement and building a thriving arts community within the neighborhood, presenting exhibitions, public lectures, film screenings, and special events throughout Los Angeles. In 2014, the 5000-volume Art Division Library opened for students, artists, and the community at large.