[Dear readers, we are publishing the essays of the 16 finalists in the New Art Writing Challenge Contest on artblog and the St. Claire! Today, we publish the finalists in the category of “100 words or less”. Thanks to all those who participated and submitted more than 70 articles. And thanks to our jurors — Hrag Vartanian, Abigail Satinsky, and Nell McClister–who picked the winners. We are energized by all the wonderful writing that was submitted, and know you will enjoy reading it! — the artblog editors]
Finalists in category: 100 words or less
“Vicious Elegance,” Julia Klein: Partial Figures and Fragments
By Kenneth Nicholson
Coils of wire wrapped with aggressive devotion, throttling plaster crusted legs that abruptly disperse into the air. Julia Klein gets her hooks in the viewer immediately with unsettlingly rhythmic sculptures that seamlessly move from masterful intuition to provisional application. For as crudely handled as the sculptures appear, each piece is rooted with a visceral understanding of the body, and how it maneuvers itself. When experiencing the exhibition, the viewer will not move around the sculptures, but with them, within an energetic miasma that hovers throughout the exhibition.
Kenneth Nicholson is a painter and writer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is currently enrolled in the MFA program at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
