The Onassis Cultural Center New York is the winner of the Global Fine Art Awards’ 2017 Youniversal Award, the audience award determined by popular vote. The exhibition A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC–200 AD, on view at the Onassis Cultural Center New York from March 9–June 24, 2017, received the highest number of votes in the four-year history of the award. Public voting took place online in January. The award was announced last night during a black tie gala at New York City venue 583 Park Avenue. Executive Director and Director of Cultural Affairs Amalia Cosmetatou accepted the award on behalf of the Onassis Cultural Center New York.
Global Fine Art Awards (GFAA) is the first annual award program ever created to recognize the best-curated art and design exhibitions and installations around the world. The research and judging criteria are innovation and excellence in exhibition design, historical context, educational value, and public appeal. The 85 nominees this year represented works from 6 continents, 28 countries and 60 cities – from Beijing to Boston, from Melbourne to Montréal.
The GFAA program highlights the link between artists and their creations, the galleries that represent them, curated shows from the gallery, public art, and museums worldwide. This year, 11 galleries exhibiting at the concurrent Armory Show, a cultural collaborator of GFAA, represent more than fifteen 2017 GFAA Nominees including: Yayoi Kusama, Kerry James Marshall, Andy Goldsworthy, Jaume Plensa, Ana Mendieta, Wifredo Lam, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, Irving Penn, Ai Weiwei and William Eggleston.
Prominent guests in attendance were artist Shirin Neshat, winner of the Global Humanity Award, and actor Chloe Sevigny. Nominees at the event included museum director and curator Erlend Hoyersten and curator Jacob Vengberg Sevel, winners of Best Public Art Award for the triennial THE GARDEN – End of Times; Beginning of Times, at ARos Aarhus Kunstmuseum; the Metropolitan Museum of Art winners Dr. Maxwell K. Hearn, Douglas Dillon Chairman of Asian Art, and Dr. Jason Sun, Brooke Russell Astor Curator of Chinese Art; Getty Museum winners— co-curators Dr. Kristen Collins and Dr. Kenneth Lapatin; Hirshhorn Museum Director Melissa Chiu, winner for the Yayoi Kusama exhibition Infinity Mirrors; and many more.
Accepting the award, Executive Director Amalia Cosmetatou said, “This award is especially precious for the Onassis Foundation because it comes from the audience—the object of our affection and for whom we do this work. We exist for the public. That is why our programs are free and accessible to all. This award tells us, that the public is there for us too.
For a full list of 2017 nominees, see the GFAA website. A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC – 200 AD was nominated in the Best Ancient Art Exhibition category. A complete list of winners will be announced on the GFAA website the week of March 12.
For more information on A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC – 200 AD, please see A World of Emotions.
