The 52nd annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper (Brand 52) will open this month at the Brand Library & Art Center, Brand Associates announced. The exhibition is a partnership between Brand Associates, the Library & Art Center and Glendale Library, Arts & Culture.
The exhibition will begin with a public reception on Saturday, June 15, from 7-9 p.m. and will be on display through Aug. 9. It will include more than 100 artworks chosen by juror Shana Nys Dambrot, a renowned art critic, author and curator. The reception will bring together artists from diverse backgrounds, including new artists and seasoned professionals whose work is widely known.
This year, more than 1,500 artworks were submitted to Brand Associates through an open call process. As an experienced juror, Dambrot looked initially for artworks that demonstrate skill, innovation, finesse, beauty, power and message. Dambrot noted: “For this ‘Paper’ extravaganza, I’ve gathered works that I feel are in deep dialogue with each other across a few key vectors. First and foremost, profound engagement with the materiality of paper as a medium, and in some cases as an object itself. … Ultimately this is what everything I ended up including has in common — they embrace, elevate, explore and expand what a work on paper can be.”
Debra Thompson, the exhibition chairperson, is the president of Brand Associates and recently retired as an adjunct assistant professor of art history at Glendale Community College. Thompson said: “Epic is not a word to be used lightly or often, but it fits Brand 52 in many ways. This year saw the largest number of artworks entered (1,574) and the largest number of artists chosen for exhibition (102). Our artists have mastered a difficult medium through painting, drawing, cutting, folding, molding, tearing, adding and subtracting, gluing and taping, weaving and sewing. The results are by turn beautiful, profound and engaging. Epic, indeed.”
The majority of artworks on display in Brand 52 are available for purchase, with a portion of the proceeds going to support cultural programming at Brand. Art and catalogs will be for sale at the opening event and beginning the following week from the Associates’ website: AssociatesOfBrand.org.
Gallery admission is free and open to the public during library open hours. On-site, limited, free parking is available; ride-share is encouraged. Brand Library & Art Center hours: Tuesday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday. Learn more about Brand 52 at brandlibrary.org. Brand Library & Art Center is located at 1601 W. Mountain St. in Glendale.
First published in the June 8 print issue of the Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader.
