Rice, Noodles and Glue Are the People’s Choice

The votes are in and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 People’s Choice award goes to Saeri Kiritani of Forest Hills, N.Y., who created “100 Pounds of Rice,” a sculpture made from rice, rice noodles, Elmer’s Glue, epoxy glue, wood and metal sticks. Kiritani was interviewed earlier this year and talked about her work in a post on the museum’s blog face2face.si.edu, which features each artist in the show.

Voters registered their choice for The People’s Choice Award through a free mobile app (iOS and Android). The app also offers tours of the exhibition, interviews with artists and jurors and inside information about the finalists.

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition is a triennial event that invites figurative artists to submit entries in all media to be considered for prizes and display at the National Portrait Gallery. The exhibition opened March 23 of this year. The endowment from the late Virginia Outwin Boochever enables the museum to conduct a national portrait competition and exhibition that encourages artists to explore the art of portraiture.

The jurors for the 2013 competition selected the works that are currently in the show. They were critic Peter Frank, artist Hung Liu, art historian Richard Powell, photographer Alec Soth and, from the National Portrait Gallery, chief curator Brandon Brame Fortune, assistant curator of painting and sculpture Dorothy Moss, and senior curator of prints and drawings Wendy Wick Reaves.

In March, the museum announced that Bo Gehring of Beacon, N.Y., received first prize from the jury. Gehring’s prize was awarded for a video titled “Jessica Wickham.” A full list of artists in the exhibition can be found at portraitcompetition.si.edu.

National Portrait Gallery

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through the individuals who have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts and new media, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives tell the American story.

The National Portrait Gallery is part of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture at Eighth and F streets N.W., Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Information: (202) 633-1000. Websites: npg.si.edu and portraitcompetition.si.edu

# # #

SI-395-2013