WEST PALM BEACH, FL– Elizabeth Bick has won the Norton Art Museum’s $20,000 Rudin Prize for Emerging Photographers. Bick, who is based in New York City, is the third artist to win the biennial invitational exhibition. Previous winners include Analia Saban, nominated by John Baldessari, (2012); and Rami Maymon, nominated by Adi Nes (2014).
Elizabeth Bick. Courtesy of the artist.
Elizabeth Bick was nominated for the prize by Shirin Neshat. She was selected as the winning photographer by a panel consisting of the Norton's Photography Committee, Executive Director Hope Alswang, and Tim B. Wride, the Norton’s William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography.
“Elizabeth Bick is a pioneer in contemporary photography,” said Tim B. Wride, the Norton’s William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography. “Her careful examination of movement through performance art and choreography allows Bick to forge a niche in the photographic medium.”
"Street Ballet I" by Elizabeth Bick, 2015. Chromogenic development print. Courtesy of the artist.
“In an age when anyone feels they can be a photographer, the Rudin Prize is more important than ever to recognize artists pushing the medium’s envelope,” said Norton Photography Committee Member Beth Rudin DeWoody.
There were four emerging photographers selected for consideration:
Clare Benson (American, born 1985), who practices photography and interdisciplinary work in video, sculpture, and writing, was nominated by Finnish-American photographer Arno Minkkinen. Benson is based in Arizona.
Elizabeth Bick (American, born 1980), who is known for mixing performance art, choreography, and documentary photography, was nominated by Iranian photographer Shirin Neshat. Bick is based in New York City.
Alexandra Hunts (Ukrainian, born 1990), who is recognized for abstract digital and analog photography, was nominated by Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra. Hunts is based in Amsterdam.
Wesley Stringer (American, born 1985), who works in photography and crafts hand- made books, was nominated by English photographer Michael Kenna. Stringer won the “People’s Choice” award, which was determined by museum visitor votes. He is based in New York City.
“This year’s nominees are among the youngest of the emerging photographers to have been nominated to date,” stated Tim B. Wride, the Norton’s William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography. “They reflect the cross-disciplinary nature of today’s artists for whom photography is a tool like any other in the artist’s arsenal. Each uses photography in conjunction with sculpture, hand-made books, video, and/or performance. One has the distinct impression that these artists’ selection of medium is driven by and is as important as their ideas.”
The Rudin Prize is an international award for emerging photographers. Every two years, world-renowned artists each nominate emerging artists on the cutting edge of the field who has not yet had a solo museum exhibition.
The nominated photographers present their work in a group exhibition and the Museum’s Photography Committee selects the winner. The prize includes a $20,000 cash award. The prize is named in honor of the late New York City real estate developer Lewis Rudin, father of Beth Rudin DeWoody, who is a member of the Photography Committee at the Norton and President of The Rudin Family Foundations and Executive Vice President of Rudin Management Company.
Elizabeth Bick
Elizabeth Bick’s work is influenced by her experience as a classical ballerina and her study and practice of street photography. She has spent a decade examining the public and private display of individual and collective movement and gesture. The resulting photographs are a hybrid of postmodern performance art, choreography, and documentary photography.
Bick received a MFA in Photography from Yale University School of Art and is currently based in New York City, where she is a faculty member at Pratt Institute and School of Visual Arts.
Her photography is currently the subject of a solo show, "Performances" at the University of Texas Visual Art Center and is exhibited in the group show, "Nothing from Something" at Gallery 19 in Chicago. To see her art, visit www.erbick.com.
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BASIC FACTS: The Norton Museum of Art is located at 1451 S Olive Ave, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. "The Ruden Prize for Emerging Photographers" opened on November 10, 2016 and continues through January 15, 2017. www.norton.org.
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