juried/curated exhibits and juror standards...

[TheFlyingCamera]

I recently submitted work to a juried exhibit. None of my photos were accepted; in itself, while frustrating, is just a fact of life. What I've found very interesting is the seeming total arbitrariness of curatorial standards - many juried shows I've submitted to seemed to either have no standards or applied them in a haphazard manner. In the case of this most recent show, the exhibit was titled "The Human Form". Since I do male nudes, I submitted three (the maximum number of entries allowed). On returning to the gallery to retrieve my work, I perused the exhibit as it was hung on the wall. For a show about The Human Form, there was only ONE male semi-nude, the rest of the nudes were female. The three prize-winning pieces for the show did not even feature a discernible human form - two were swirly abstract painting-thingies, and the third one was a suitcase with tylenol pills and small torn up newspaper bits, some of which had photos of faces on them, decoupaged onto the outside in the general pattern of an American flag.

I have two questions, then. A: What is going on here - am I missing something, or do I just live in a sufficiently artistically devoid city (Washington DC) that this kind of crap passes for acceptable curatorial behavior?

and

B: What is this extreme bias against male nudes in art? For a show about The Human Form, I found it puzzling at best to see that half of humanity was for all intents and purposes excluded from the show.

[dr bob]

As I do no figure work and little portraiture, I may not be qualified to comment but here goes anyway. Juried shows do nor normally have standards. The whole idea is that the judge is the only and final authority on what stays and what goes – sorry.

My still life was rejected at a local art (not photography) show a while back. When I arrived to pick up my print, I was informed by the show sponsors that that particular judge threw out every entry having “color” in the matting or frame (Huh?) That entry had a slightly gray mat. Indeed, there was every sort of art in the rejects with color in the mountings. The next judge gave my entry first place b&w.

I have no real interest in figure art, male or female but I don’t feel that either is prejudiced in the general art field. Keep trying.

[Peter Schrager]

Just the usual bulldinker stuff from the art crowd. I don't enter contests or juried baloney anymore. Spend my time making prints and marketing them myself.
Best, Peter

[Claire Senft]

I exhibit no work. I am therefore not subject to bias in the jury pool or the whim of a hanging judge.

[df cardwell]

Every show has a bias. Rarely is it about 'good pictures'. A fact of life. Don't blame it on your city. Of course the male nude is scary these days. And the more frightened a group is about offending, the more they retreat. Ever look through normal magazines in the '30s ? A different world. Anyway. Have your own show.

good luck