Exhibit Extended!
The Outwin: American Portraiture Today premiered at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in the fall of 2019. Every three years, artists living and working in the United States are invited to submit one of their recent portraits to a panel of experts chosen by the museum in the call for the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The works of nearly 50 finalists were selected from over 2,600 entries. For the first time in the triennial’s history, the museum specifically asked that submissions respond “to the current political and social context,” and this resulting presentation offers perspectives on some of today’s most pressing issues.
The selected finalists create portraits in a wide range of media—painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, time-based media art, installation, and performance—but all are keenly aware of portraiture’s potential to insist on the presence, and importance, of every human being. The Outwin aims to advance the art of portraiture for future generations while encouraging visitors to empathize and locate meaningful connections.
The Outwin first-prize winner is artist Hugo Crosthwaite, who is the first Latinx artist to receive this prestigious award since the national competition was founded in 2006. His prize-winning stop-motion drawing animation, “A Portrait of Berenice Sarmiento Chávez” (2018), recounts a woman’s journey from Tijuana, Mexico, to the United States in pursuit of the American dream.
This exhibition has been organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. The competition and exhibition are made possible through generous support from the Virginia Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Endowment.
Smithsonian affiliation made possible through the generous support of the MassMutual Foundation.
Exhibit sponsored locally by Freedom Credit Union and Health New England
Prize Winners
Hugo Crosthwaite, First Prize
ADÁL, People’s Choice
Sam Comen, Second Prize
Richard Greene, Third Prize (tie)
Wayde McIntosh, Third Prize (tie)
Natalia Garcia Clark, Commended
Lauren Hare, Commended
Adrian Octavius Walker, Commended
Finalists
Paul Adams and Jordan Layton
Shimon Attie
Tom Atwood
Claire Beckett
Quinn Russell Brown
Ruth Leonela Buentello
Antonius-Tin Bui
Mike Byrnside
Kate Capshaw
Daniel Centofanti
Joshua Cogan
Larry W. Cook, Jr.
Carl Corey
Carla Crawford
David Antonio Cruz
Ronald Diamond
Jenny Dubnau
Jess T. Dugan
Nekisha Durrett
Nona Faustine
Genevieve Gaignard
Anna Garner
Sedrick Huckaby
Zun Lee
William Lemke
Patrick Martinez
Louie Palu
Joel Daniel Phillips
Deborah Roberts
Devon Rodriguez
Luis Alvarez Roure
Sheldon Scott
Federico Solmi
Sandra Steinbrecher
Julianne Wallace Sterling
Swoon (Caledonia Curry)
Lava Thomas
Michael Vasquez
Semifinalists
Paul Adams
William Alatriste
Erin Anderson
Keliy Anderson-Staley
Joan Baez
Jose Antonio Bedolla
Julie Bell
Ali Cavanaugh
Susan Copich
Kamille Corry
Kenturah Davis
Steve Davis
Ruth Dealy
Miguel del Rey Vergara
Edie Dillon
Eric Dyer
Daniel Farnum
Natasha Gornik
Kira Nam Greene
Muriel Hasbun
Jacob Hayes
Ricardo Hernandez
Michal Hunter
CYJO (Cindy Hwang-Archambault)
Vikesh Kapoor
Rania Matar
Zully Mejia
Mark Sisson
Jared Soares
Hiroshi Watanabe
Natasha Young