Deadline: June 13, 2018
Not long after humanity began drawing, drawings evolved into writing. Pictures became symbols, abstraction blossomed, and language became visual. Two branches, sharing one root, carried forward people’s ideas, feelings, and plans. The visual and the verbal arts shared the role of encapsulating civilization’s data. And they continue to do so today, in so many wondrous and varied ways. TEXTUALITY is an exhibit that inquires into the overlap of these two branches, seeking examples of where the verbal is made visual, where language returns into image.
Manifest prepares for the grand finalé of its 14th season with a project intended to feature and explore works which incorporate text or letter forms. These may be in ways that are quite straightforward, or which are abstract, fragmented, or in other ways surprising or significantly processed away from recognition. We are eager to see just how artists make work in any media or genre (painting, drawing, collage, photography, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, video, and non-traditional art, etc.) using text or letter forms as a significant element. Manifest last explored this theme in 2012, during our 8th season.
ELIGIBILITY
TEXTUALITY is open to everyone. The only limitation is that entries must represent original works which address the broad theme as defined by ‘text or letterforms’.
MEDIA
Open to any and all traditional and non-traditional visual arts media. Including potentially boundary-testing forms that may exist as both artistic and yet non-art.
Manifest’s carefully assembled juries change from project to project, and have no collective predisposition towards any particular kind or style of art.
ANNUAL CASH AWARD
A new annual Manifest Grand Jury Prize will result in the awarding of one significant cash prize ($2500) to a single work selected as the ‘best of the entire season’. Winner will be determined by a final end-of-year jury from among a pool of all top-scoring works from each exhibit’s jury process across the current exhibition season. This process will apply to exhibits from the start of our 14th season on September 29, 2017, and applies to each exhibit through August, 2018, including this one. Details on the Manifest Grand Jury Prize can be found here.
ENTRY FEE
$40 for up to three entries submitted. $10 per each additional entry. Fees are non-refundable. Number of entries is unlimited. Entry fee must be paid by U.S. check or money order made payable to MANIFEST, or by credit card via PayPal. (If paying by PayPal PLEASE use the paypal link provided on the page that follows the submission of the online entry form.)
Any fee payment must reference your name, or we must be notified if another party is paying your fee.
What is my fee used for?
Manifest is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and state-funded charitable organization operated by artists, for artists, with no reserve or endowment. All proceeds from entry fees fund project-related expenses. Not unlike paying a fee to enter a marathon race, this democratically enables our organization’s projects to happen. For over a decade Manifest has earned an international reputation for producing quality exhibits, and benefitting the artists involved over time, on its meager budget. Our board of directors and small dedicated staff work hard to make involvement with Manifest projects well worth the effort and cost to do so. It is important to note that this jury fee is the only cost charged by Manifest for participation.
HOW MANY WORKS SHOULD I SUBMIT?
The average number of works submitted to a typical Manifest project is 3. Some artists choose to submit more, especially if they have a couple different bodies of work which they’d like our jury to consider, or if they have a suite of works that are interrelated. While we have absolutely no minimum number required (other than one), nor do we give an advantage to those who submit more, it is helpful to have a few options to select from. Our jury often gains insight into one work by seeing it in context with a few others by the same artist. And we do routinely accept pairs or sets of work by artists once they are determined to be a finalist.
If for any reason you submit the entry form (linked at the top and bottom of this page) more than once, only the most recent form will be retained in our system. All previous forms will be deleted. If you decide to submit additional work later, you will need to submit a new form containing ALL the works for the exhibit.
Detail images should only be included if truly necessary for understanding the nature or quality of the artwork and these files must be named as instructed below.
JURY AND CURATOR
Manifest’s selection process involves a complex two-part system. This exhibit will be juried by an anonymous 5-9 member panel of professional and academic advisors with a broad range of expertise relative to art and design. The jury will then pass along their recommendations to the exhibit curator who will make the final selections from the jury-approved pool.