Artadia, a national nonprofit grantmaking organization, has named the recipients of its 2024 Houston Artadia Awards, including Gabriel Martinez, Glasstire’s Editor-in-Chief, and Anna Mayer. Alexis Pye has received the organization’s Horton Artadia Award.
Gabriel Martinez, photo courtesy of the artist; Anna Mayer, photo: Jake Dotson; and Alexis Pye. Photo: Jacob Lee Myers.
For more than 25 years Artadia has granted unrestricted funds to artists in eight cities across the U.S., including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Since its inception, the organization has given more than $6 million to over 400 artists.
This year’s Awards were selected through a two-tiered process. The six finalists, which included Leslie Hewitt, JR Roykovich, and Kenneth Tam, were selected by the first round of jurors: Owen Duffy, the Nancy C. Allen Curator and Director of Exhibitions at Asia Society Texas; Elena Ketelsen González, Assistant Curator at MoMA PS1; and Savannah Wood, Executive Director of Afro Charities, Inc. Each of the finalists participated in virtual studio visits with Mr. Duffy and Megha Ralapati, the Program Director, Fellowships, at CEC ArtsLink.
In a press release, Mr. Duffy remarked, “Serving as a juror for Artadia was a humbling, rewarding, and unbelievably challenging experience. Not only did the experience of jurying reaffirm my belief in the vast pool of talent in Houston, but it introduced me to artists that had yet to be on my curatorial radar; artists that I hope to collaborate with in the years to come.”
Ms. Ralapati, who was part of the second round of jurors, added, “The finalist group of Houston artists demonstrates a deep commitment to working within their multifaceted local ecosystem. I was impressed with their conceptual rigor, creative material choices, and sensitive observation of the social, political and collective concerns of our complex and fraught current moment — all with a keen sense of play and a refreshing originality of spirit.”
Gabriel Martinez, untitled, 2023, found garments, 16 x 12 inches
Of Mr. Martinez’ work, Ms. Ralapati commented, “[He] has a polyphonic approach to art practice, as he experiments with textile, installation, sculpture, community space, sound, and ideas that extend beyond ‘art,’ yet inherently connects it with politics and social reality.”
Anna Mayer, “Mourning Ware (Layers),” 2021, inherited crushed dinnerware embedded in purchased clay, layered with gleaned clays from Niland, CA and Houston, TX, 11 x 10 inches
Mr. Duffy noted, “Mayer has distinguished herself as one of the preeminent ceramicists in Texas, creating vital and powerful material histories of place. A dedicated educator, her work provides an aspirational model for the next generation of sculptors.”
Alexis Pye, “Do You Remember,” 2024, oil, oil stick, oil pastel and embroidery on canvas, 36 x 48 x 1 1/2 inches.
Ms. Ralapati spoke of Ms. Pye’s practice, saying, “Pye is making fresh and delightful paintings rooted in personal stories and a desire to traverse genre and boundary, as she draws influences from the canon of Western Art History, popular culture, and a new visual vocabulary in-the-making.”
