The West Collection has announced the 10 Finalist Winners of the 2011 West Prize. Selected from 2100 international applicants, each artist will be awarded an acquisition grant with their chosen work entering the prestigious West Collection of contemporary art.
The 10 finalists are:
Caroline Lathan-Stiefel (West Chester, PA)
Aurelia Gratzer (Vienna, Austria)
Jordan Griska (Philadelphia, PA)
Billie Grace Lynn (Miami, FL)
Alex Lukas (Philadelphia, PA)
Troy Dugas (Lafayette, LA)
Taro Hattori (Oakland, CA)
Blane De St. Croix (Brooklyn, NY)
Rachel Sussman (Brooklyn, NY)
Michael Beitz (Buffalo, NY)
Later this year in May, the 10 Finalists Exhibition will open to the public at the West Collection at SEI, and during the opening one of the 10 artists will receive the $25,000 Grand Prize for their project proposal. With this initiative, The West Collection seeks to support and exhibit young artists who are creating challenging and inventive work.
Since the mid-90’s, the West family has actively collected works from many contemporary artists, ranging from those newly emerging to those with stellar careers. Curator Paige West has actively grown the collection to extend beyond SEI, and many works are now loaned to museums and university galleries. The collection is largely housed at SEI, an investment management firm founded and still run by Paige's father, Al West. A large portion of the collection can be seen on display in and around the SEI corporate campus located in Oaks, Pennsylvania. One of the most compelling collections of contemporary art in America, The West Collection includes works by hundreds of artists, including important pieces by Vik Muniz, Donald Judd, Shirin Neshat, Julian Opie, and Jennifer Steinkamp.
By Randy Gladman for The Ministry of Artistic Affairs.
