PCNW’s 23rd Juried Photography Exhibition, Distinction

Juror: Kris Graves

On view: March 26 – June 25, 2020

PCNW is proud to present our 23rd annual juried exhibition, Distinction. One of the most anticipated shows in our gallery program, this exhibition features a wide range of visually rich images that were selected from artists from across the world: 309 artists, from 36 states in the US + artists from Canada and China, submitted a total of 1950 images. Juror Kris Graves chose images from 44 individuals to be included in the exhibition.

Exhibiting Artists

Lisa Ahlberg (Seattle, WA), Jake Alexander (Seattle, WA), Brian Allen (Seattle, WA), Ken Allison (Seattle, WA), Hannah Altman (Richmond, VA), Anastasia Babenko (Seattle, WA), Peter Baker (Los Angeles, CA), David Bartlett (Farmington, MI), Sheri Lynn Behr (New York, NY), Claude Beller (New York, NY), Quinn Russell Brown (Seattle, WA), Michael Cardinali (Swampscott, MA), Clinton Chambers (Los Angeles, CA), Nelson Chan (Oakland, CA), Laurent Chevalier (Brooklyn, NY), Mark Coggins (San Francisco, CA), Barbara Diener (Chicago, IL), Jesse Egner (Brooklyn, NY), Suzanne Engelberg (Tiburon, CA), Gregg Evans (Brooklyn, NY), Jon Feinstein (Seattle, WA), Cheryl L. Guerrero (San Francisco, CA), Keavy Handley-Byrne (Brooklyn, NY), Charlotta Hauksdottir (Palo Alto, CA), Jon Henry (Brooklyn, NY), Michael Hicks + Courtney Asztalos (Syracuse, NY), Tzu Hung (John) Huang (Seattle, WA), Mercedes Jelinek (Brooklyn, NY), Richard Kent (Lancaster, PA), Brian Van Lau (Issaquah, WA), Jessica Rycheal Lester (Seattle, WA), Nancy Libson (Washington, DC), Joshua Littlefield (Baltimore, MD), Walter O’Brien (Eugene, OR), Alana Perino (Oakland, CA), Jody Poorwill (Tacoma, WA), John-David Richardson (Bellevue, KY), Lynn Saville (New York, NY), Aline Smithson (Los Angeles, CA), Judith Stenneken (New York, NY), Barbara Strigel (Vancouver, Canada), Kiliii Yuyan (Seattle, WA), Sam Zalutsky (New York, NY), Jennifer Zwick (Seattle, WA)    

In our continued efforts to champion artists, we’ve conducted interviews with all of the Distinction artists. To read the full interviews please visit https://pcnwstaging.dreamhosters.com/blog/ and check back frequently as we’ll post additional artist interviews as they happen. Many of these works are for sale; for inquiries, please contact Erin Spencer at espencer@pcnw.org.

Juror: Kris Graves

Kris Graves (b. 1982 New York, NY) is an artist and publisher based in New York and London. He received his BFA in Visual Arts from S.U.N.Y. Purchase College and has been published and exhibited globally, including the National Portrait Gallery in London, England; Aperture Gallery, New York; University of Arizona, Tucson; Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon; and Brooklyn Museum, New York; among others. Permanent collections include the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Brooklyn Museum, New York; The Wedge Collection, Toronto; and Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania.

Currently, Kris is an Adjunct Professor at The New School / Parsons School of Design, New York and is the Director of Kris Graves Projects and Gallery (KGP), Brooklyn. KGP collaborates with artists to create limited edition publication and archival prints, focusing on contemporary photography and works on paper. KCP focuses their publishing efforts on stories that empower the long forgotten and underrepresented. These stories deal with issues of race, policy, social awareness, feminism, culture, and wealth. The goal at KCP is to make books and prints affordable to every level of collector.

 

Awards

1st place = $500 cash

2nd place = $250 Glazer’s gift certificate.

People’s Choice Award = photo supplies including Hahnemühle paper, camera bag, and more!

Results

1st Place Award
Jon Henry

2nd Place Award
Peter Baker

Honorable Mentions
Charlotta Hauksdottir 
Courtney Asztalos and Michael Hicks 
Anastasia Babenko 
Michael Cardinali 

People’s Choice
Cheryl L. Guerrero

Thank you to our sponsors

Past Jurors

1995 – Duane Michals, Artist
1996 – Joyce Tenneson, Artist
1997 – Jock Sturges, Artist and Trevor Fairbrother, Curator, Seattle Art Museum
1998 – Keith Carter, Artist
1999 – Linda Connor, Artist, Educator
2001 – Chien-Chi Chang, Photographer, Magnum Photos
2002 – Michael Kenna, Artist
2003 – Anne Wilkes Tucker, Curator, Museum of Fine Art Houston
2004 – Roy Flukinger, Curator, Harry Ransom Center
2005 – Mary Virginia Swanson, Consultant, Educator, MVS
2006 – Paul Kopeikin, Paul Kopeikin Gallery
2007 – Charlotte Cotton, Curator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
2008 – Rod Slemmons, Director, Museum of Contemporary Photography
2009 – Jen Bekman, Jen Bekman Gallery, 20×200
2010 – Denise Wolff, Editor, Aperture
2011 – Karen Irvine, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Photography
2012 – W.M. Hunt, Collector and Curator
2013 – John A. Bennette, Collector and Curator
2014 – Whitney C. Johnson, Director of Photography, The New Yorker
2015 – Julia Dolan, Minor White Curator of Photography, Portland Art Museum
2017 – Sandra S. Phillips, Curator Emeritus, SF MOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)
2018 – Lara Behnert, Senior Manager of Starbucks Creative Studio and Conor Risch, Senior Editor of Photo District News (PDN) and PDNOnline.com

1st Place Winners

1995 – James Soe Nyun
1996 – Phil Borges
1997 – Trina Kyounghui Yi-Weston
1998 – Lisa Hohlfeld
1999 – Frank Noelker
2001 – Sarah Oehl
2002 – Nanette Vinson
2003 – (tie) Cat Gwynn & Patricia Sandler
2004 – Dennis Chamberlin
2005 – Peter de Lory
2006 – Joelle Jensen
2007 – Sung Jin Park
2008 – Sally Ketcham
2009 – James Luckett
2010 – Adam Satushek
2011 – Laura Plageman
2012 – Lauren Marsolier
2013 – Tuan Cao
2014 – Alejandra Carles-Tolra
2015 – Meike J. Paniza
2017 – Hiroyo Kaneko
2018 – Mark Daughtee and Kiliii Yüyan