ArtRat Gallery announces its ArtPrize lineup

ArtRat Gallery has introduced the four artists it will host during ArtPrize 2022: Dean Hunt, Keren Kroul, Gray Reynolds and ArtRat founder Nancy Tobin. 

The event marks ArtRat’s first time as a registered venue for ArtPrize, which runs Sept. 15 to Oct. 2. “Since we opened in September 2021, we’ve been looking forward to our chance to participate in ArtPrize,” Tobin said. “We’re excited about the work Dean, Keren and Gray will bring to the gallery, and we’re looking forward to sharing it with this year’s ArtPrize visitors.” 

 

Dean Hunt. "My piece is a mix of 2D art and augmented reality: a 7.5'-by-7.5-foot grid of hand-painted panels that evoke the styles of influential artists throughout history. I will swap and switch these panels around throughout ArtPrize. The piece employs the augmented-reality app WisckAR to show visitors a different video message each time they scan a panel with their smartphones."

 

 

 

Keren Kroul. "I am a visual artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. My ArtPrize 2022 entry is The Shape of Memory. This piece was made in 2022, is watercolor on paper, and measures 96” x 120” (8’ x 10’ feet). It is composed of 15 sheets of Arches paper arranged in a rectangular grid."

 

 

 

Gray Reynolds. "The piece I've submitted is Grace Notes: A Celebration of Marginalized Identities in American Folk Music, which is a series of three 18"x24" embroidered linocut portraits in painted frames of musicians and artists from underrepresented groups. The portraits also have accompanying written statements taken from interviews with the subjects and audio of them. The statements feature QR codes that can be scanned that will take viewers to a website that hosts the audio."

 

 

 

Nancy Tobin. "My piece — High Water —  was inspired by my frustration about climate change. I wanted to create a piece that reminds people that our glaciers are melting and the world is changing quickly and dramatically. I chose to use colors that I consider hopeful — oranges, yellows and bright blues — to signify that we can save our beautiful planet if we act quickly."

 

 

About ArtRat Gallery

Located at 46 Division Avenue South, ArtRat Gallery occupies a work space owned by Dwelling Place, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating affordable communities and revitalizing neighborhoods in Western Michigan. 

About Dean Hunt

Based in Alto, MI, Dean Hunt is a graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design and the creator of WisckAR, a software platform that lets users create their own augmented reality experiences, including the work he’ll display during ArtPrize. 

About Keren Kroul

Keren Kroul creates large-scale watercolor on paper paintings and suspended paper installations. Examining identity through time, memory, and place, they are fantastical landscapes of the mind. Born in Haifa, Israel, to an Argentinean father and Israeli mother, Keren was raised in Mexico City and San José, Costa Rica. She currently lives in Minneapolis, where she teaches art, design and Spanish.

About Gray Reynolds

Gray Reynolds (they/them) is a queer, disabled printmaker and musician who grew up in the Michigan folk community. They have spent the past 2 decades surrounded by the music, dance, and traditional arts created by the community, and these art forms are a major inspiration in their own work. Currently, they are studying anthropology and art at Central Michigan University, with focuses on cultural anthropology and printmaking, respectively.

About Nancy Tobin

Grand Rapids native Nancy Tobin (a graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design) recently returned to the city after many years living and working in San Francisco and the New York area. Tobin has exhibited in galleries and museums across the country, including Cue Gallery in New York, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Michigan, Orange County Center for Contemporary art in California, Mason Gross at Rutgers University, and the Pierro Gallery in New Jersey. Her work has been acquired by numerous private and museum collections. 

About ArtPrize®

ArtPrize is an independent international art competition in Grand Rapids. It celebrates artists working in all mediums from anywhere in the world.