Thursday, October 22, 2020

Deana Lawson Awarded Hugo Boss Prize 2020

Richard Armstrong, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, and Yves Müller, CFO and Spokesperson of the Board of HUGO BOSS AG, announced today that Deana Lawson has been awarded the Hugo Boss Prize 2020. She is the thirteenth artist to receive the biennial prize, which was established in 1996 to recognize significant achievement in contemporary art. Selected by a jury of international critics and curators, Lawson receives an honorarium of $100,000 and a solo exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, opening in spring 2021. Administered by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Hugo Boss Prize and the exhibition is made possible by HUGO BOSS.

“On behalf of our jury, I am delighted to announce Deana Lawson as the recipient of the 2020 Hugo Boss Prize,” said Armstrong. “Lawson is the first artist working in photography to be recognized with the award in its history, and her contribution to the medium and the larger cultural landscape is indelible. We are grateful for our partnership with HUGO BOSS, which spans over two decades and has played a critical role in shaping the Guggenheim’s contemporary program.”

“The Hugo Boss Prize marks a highlight in our partnership with the Guggenheim Museum and we are proud that it has been at the core of our arts program for almost twenty-five years,” noted Müller. “We would like to extend our sincerest congratulations to Deana Lawson and express our gratitude to the jury and the Guggenheim Museum for their dedication and support in this project.”

For this year’s prize, in recognition of the remarkable achievements of the nominees and the challenges presented by the current global pandemic to the field, HUGO BOSS will award each of the remaining short-listed artists an extraordinary honorarium of $10,000.

The short list for the 2020 award comprised Nairy Baghramian (b. 1971, Isfahan, Iran); Kevin Beasley (b. 1985, Lynchburg, Va.); Deana Lawson (b. 1979, Rochester, N.Y.); Elias Sime (b. 1968, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia); Cecilia Vicuña (b. 1948, Santiago, Chile); and Adrián Villar Rojas (b. 1980, Rosario, Argentina).

The jurors for the current cycle are Naomi Beckwith, Manilow Senior Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Katherine Brinson, Daskalopoulos Curator, Contemporary Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Julieta González, independent curator; Christopher Y. Lew, Nancy and Fred Poses Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art; and Nat Trotman, Curator, Performance and Media, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Video profiles created on the occasion of the prize that document the creative process of each of the six finalists are posted on youtube.com.

Jury Statement

“At the outset of our recent jury deliberations, we collectively acknowledged that each of the nominated artists is an extraordinary creative force whose work has deeply impacted our own curatorial perspectives. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in their respective practices in the year between the announcement of the short list and now, and commend their singular achievements. In this moment of accelerated cultural transformation, we were galvanized by the fact that the Prize and its associated exhibition have historically functioned as a platform for new artistic propositions and possibilities. With this in mind, we have chosen to honor Deana Lawson, an artist who offers compelling new modes of seeing and imagining.

“Lawson brilliantly negotiates the legacies of vernacular, documentary, and conceptual photography to create indelible tableaux of Black colloquial life. While appearing to be images of actual families, friends, and lovers, her large-format works are in fact highly staged, cast, and choreographed, grounding their subjects in aesthetically rich material environments even as they gesture toward an ethereal elsewhere­—a deft, remarkable feat. Throughout her oeuvre, Lawson employs a number of formal and conceptual strategies that we believe will occupy viewers and scholars for generations to come. We are particularly excited that she is the first photographer to receive the Hugo Boss Prize, an indication that her singular approach, at once socially humane and technically incisive, is transformative of both the medium and the very concept of representation.”

Deana Lawson (b. 1979, Rochester, N.Y.) lives and works in New York. Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions including Deana Lawson: Centropy, Kunsthalle Basel (2020); Deana Lawson, Huis Marseille, Museum voor Fotografie, Amsterdam (2019); Deana Lawson: Planes, The Underground Museum, Los Angeles (2018); Deana Lawson, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2018); Deana Lawson, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2017); Deana Lawson, The Art Institute of Chicago (2015); and Corporeal, Light Work, Syracuse, N.Y. (2009).

Charlamagne: Not Voting for Joe Biden Supporting ‘Change Agent’ Senator Kamala Harris

Nationally-syndicated morning radio host Charlamagne tha God said Trump is making effort to talk to black voters with ads and his "marketing" to young black men is working. He said he is excited for Biden running mate Kamala Harris because he is "tired of old white male" politicians.

Charlamagne made it clear that is voting for Biden mainly due to Harris, calling her the person to "lead us in the future."

"I believe Kamala is the political change," he said. "I believe she is exactly the leader this country needs to lead us in the future. If she's not been, I'll just be wrong, because I am going to be honest with you, Don, I am just so tired of like old white male leadership in politics."

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Full Speech: Former President Obama Campaigns in Philadelphia for Joe Biden

Former President Barack Obama blasted President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, his response to racial unrest and his fundamental unfitness for the job in his first in-person campaign pitch Wednesday for Joe Biden, his former vice president.

Watch his full speech below:

Rep. Payne, Jr. Leads Congressional Support for Postal Workers

Washington, D.C. — Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. led a Congressional effort to support postal workers and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) during the coronavirus public health crisis.  The move comes at a time when letter carriers must handle a record-setting amount of mail-in election ballots despite efforts to undermine their effectiveness from President Trump and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Rep. Payne, Jr. wrote a letter yesterday to express this public show of support to the presidents of the American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, and National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association.  The letter stated that the members of Congress wanted to “ensure that postal workers know that they have our support to do everything in their power to protect the sanctity of the postal service, especially in a time such as the present.”

“We need to let the patriotic men and women of the Postal Service know we support them during this public health crisis,” said Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr.  “They are doing everything they can to get our mail to us in a timely manner.  We need them now more than ever to handle this unprecedented number of mail-in ballots to secure the integrity of the November election.  I never thought I would see the day a sitting American President would attack the Postal Service.”

In the letter, Rep. Payne, Jr. outlined the lack of support from government officials and said that many “reports over the last two months… go into detail about Postmaster General Louis DeJoy actively sabotaging the USPS. Most shocking of all, President Donald Trump himself confirmed that these actions are intended to silence those who choose to vote by mail during a pandemic. While DeJoy has suspended further changes to USPS policies, he has yet to reverse any of the damaging policies he has already put in place.”  The letter was co-signed by 19 members of Congress.      

The full letter is listed below. 

####

October 19, 2020

 

 

Fredric V. Rolando                                                                 Paul V. Hogrogian

President                                                                                National President

National Association of Letter Carriers                                 National Postal Mail Handlers Union 

100 Indiana Avenue NW                                                        815 16th St, NW, Ste. 5100

Washington, DC 20001                                                          Washington, DC  20006

 

Ronnie W. Stutts                                                                   Mark Dimondstein

President                                                                                 President                    

National Rural Letter Carriers' Association                           American Postal Workers Union

1630 Duke Street                                                                    1300 L Street NW

Alexandria, VA 22314                                                           Washington, D.C. 20005

 

Dear President Rolando, President Hogrogian, President Stutts, and President Dimondstein:

We write to express our support for the men and women of the United States Postal Service (USPS). We want to ensure that postal workers know that they have our support to do everything in their power to protect the sanctity of the postal service, especially in a time such as the present. The full functionality of the USPS during this pandemic has provided a critical lifeline for millions of Americans and will be essential to state and local governments having the necessary assistance to counter the unprecedented levels of mailed ballots.

Unfortunately, USPS leadership’s actions over the past three months have only increased concerns. Daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19 remain high, continuing to highlight the importance of allowing voters to vote safely and by mail if they choose. Many reports over the last two months also go into detail about Postmaster General Louis DeJoy actively sabotaging the USPS. Most shocking of all, President Donald Trump himself confirmed that these actions are intended to silence those who choose to vote by mail during a pandemic. While DeJoy has suspended further changes to USPS policies, he has yet to reverse any of the damaging policies he has already put in place.

These delays have forced Americans who rely on mail-order medications to wait weeks for deliveries that normally take 3-5 days to arrive. Mail-order prescriptions are an indispensable service that has saved some of the most vulnerable Americans from having to pick up prescriptions in-person, protecting them from exposure to COVID-19.

Ballots are already being mailed to voters nationwide, and it is no exaggeration to say that USPS workers are on the very front lines of the American experiment. We hope morale remains high amongst postal workers during this time. They are some of our most important essential workers and the work they do each day and will do in the coming months will help to protect or nation and our democracy.  

 

Sincerely,

 

Donald M. Payne, Jr.

Member of Congress


Michael Steele endorses Joe Biden for president

Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday, saying the former vice president "will pursue options that work towards healing the divide" worsened by President Donald Trump.

Steele was the first African American to be elected to statewide office in Maryland, serving as lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2007. He was also the first African American to serve as chairman of the RNC.

"Many of Donald Trump's supporters bring legitimate concerns to the table. During my time leading the GOP, I endeavored to address these and other grievances through the lens of unity and growth. But Trump has energized the party through the exact opposite means -- by focusing on stoking division and eroding our core principles," Steele said in a statement issued by the Lincoln Project.

"Although Vice President Biden and I disagree on some policy points, I believe he will earnestly pursue options that work towards healing the divide exacerbated by Trump and his administration," Steele added. "My support for Biden is because we share an everlasting loyalty to what is ultimately best for our nation."

[SOURCE: CNN]