David Wilson
While I remain ambivalent about much of SFMOMA's "out-of-the-building" programming this year I am genuinely curious about the upcoming SECA Art Award commissions from the 2012 awardees (Zarouhie Abdalian, Josh Faught, Jonn Herschend, and David Wilson). From when the finalists were announced last September:
SFMOMA assistant curators Jenny Gheith (painting and sculpture) and Tanya Zimbardo (media arts) have just announced the finalists for the 2012 SECA Art Award. This installment of the museum’s biennial award is especially exciting: for the first time in the award program’s history, the museum will be commissioning new work offsite.
I also have to confess that I'm slightly less enthused about the winners than I was about the finalists, who included many friends and associates from Headlands and elsewhere. Those with the ability to create site-specific art seem to have been favored over those with impressive studio practices in a couple instances, and then I'm surprised a couple artists in particular were passed over given the strength of their installation work. Still, personal biases aside, I remain interested to see what the winning quartet presents.