Deborah Najar
It is an honor to join the GFAA and its remarkable board. I am very excited to be part of the team and help the program continue to grow.
NEW YORK (PRWEB) May 01, 2018
As GFAA launches the open call for submissions world-wide today for the fifth edition of the program, they announce three new members to the global team- now comprised of over 35 professionals from 20 countries:
Deborah Najar, GFAA Executive Committee and Art Liaison UAE and Europe
Deborah Najar is the Founder of the JPNF (Jean-Paul Najar Foundation), a museum for Contemporary Art located in Dubai's Alserkal Avenue. Among the first non-profits in the UAE, the JPNF came about as a partnership with Alserkal Avenue, from a desire to offer a diverse artistic experience, with strong emphasis on patronage, archives and western abstraction. Two years and eight exhibitions later, Najar and her team curate a mixture of solo and group shows, publish catalogues and host rich public programs for all audiences. Prior to this, she was the Middle East Representative for Bonhams, and the General Manager of De Beers Middle East. Najar sits on the board of the Gstaad New Year's Music Festival and heads up the Global Private Museum Network. She arrived in Dubai in 2004, is a graduate of the London School of Economics, and speaks four languages.
Andrew Nicolls, GFAA Special Advisor to the President
Andrew Nicolls is Co-Founder and CEO of Copperfield Advisory. Previously, he served as a strategic communications advisor to several financial services organizations working out of London, New York, Hong Kong, Paris, and Limassol. His clients have included, KKR, State Street, JP Morgan, Accor, Thomson Reuters and Sir Robert McAlpine.
Prior to this, Nicolls was Vice Chairman of Hudson Sandler, one of the UK’s most established PR agencies, where he led the new business function and directed the firm’s work on behalf of financial services clients. Andrew also oversaw all international activity the firm conducted with clients and agencies and established the Hong Kong office, serving as its Chairman. Nicolls holds a BSc Econ from University College Cardiff in Law and Accountancy.
Dr. Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, GFAA Judge
Dr. Oscar Guardiola-Rivera is a Professor of Art, Law and Philosophy at the University of London (Birkbeck). Guardiola-Rivera is Assistant Dean of the School of Law, and collaborates with the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities. He is the writer of the award-winning What If Latin America Ruled the World? (Bloomsbury, 2010), chosen as one the best non-fiction books that year by The Financial Times and reviewed in The Washington Post, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, BBC Radio 4 Start the Week, with Andrew Marr, Al-Jazeera’s The Riz Khan Show, Folha de Sao Paulo, and other major newspapers and media around the world. He has published in Granta, is a weekly columnist of El Espectador (COL), and a frequent contributor to the BBC World Service Nightwaves, The Stream, Monocle Radio 24, NTN 24, and Al-Jazeera, among others. He has been invited to take part in the Hay Festivals (Wales, Colombia, Lebanon and Mexico), and contributed as a curator and a speaker with the Serpentine Gallery, Southbank Centre, Intelligence Squared, Tate Modern, Pen International, and Colombiage.
Born in Colombia, he was educated in that country and in Great Britain. He graduated as a lawyer in Bogotá (Universidad Javeriana, 1993) after leading the Student Movement that initiated the 1990’s wave of constitutional reform throughout Latin America, and obtained his LLM with Distinction at University College London, and his PhD in Philosophy at the King’s College of the University of Aberdeen. He is on the editorial boards of Naked Punch: An Engaged Review of Arts & Theory; International Law. Colombian Journal of International Law; Universitas. Xavier University Law Review, (COL); and Open Law Journal and is on the advisory board of the Law, Social Justice & Global Development Journal, and is recognized as one of the most representative voices of contemporary Latin American philosophy and literature.
About the GFAA Program
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. This year is the fifth edition.
Art Research Process
Throughout the year, the GFAA Art Research Committee searches to identify the best exhibitions and installations across the globe. The basis for the research and selection of nominees is ongoing and thorough review of over 50 sources of art editorial and critique. More than 2,000 exhibitions are vetted during the process.
Open Call Process
In addition to the research-based nominations, GFAA accepts open calls from museums, biennials, fairs, galleries and other art organizations. Individual patrons may nominate as well.
Submissions for the 2018 GFAA awards are made online https://globalfineartawards.submittable.com/submit
Deadline: June 1, 2018. Administration Fee: $180 per submission.
Selection and Voting
In August, the Nominating Committee convenes to review the list of all potential nominees, and deliberates to select a proposed slate. In September, the Judges review the proposed slate, then make additions and deletions to create the official list of nominees. The 2018 nominees will be announced in early October. The Judges first vote for the top contenders in each award category to select the award Finalists. A final round of judging and deliberation is done to select the winners- one in each award category.
GFAA will announce the Nominees via international press release, and on the GFAA website in October 2018. The Winners are announced live in NYC at the award ceremony in March 2019.
The 2017 edition recognized 85 nominees from 28 countries, 60 cities and 6 continents. A total of 33 finalists, and 13 winners were selected by GFAA Judges.
Two additional awards, Youniversal and YOU-2, are determined by online and social media public voting. All Nominees are eligible to win these coveted awards.
The 13 GFAA Award Categories
Contemporary or Post-War – solo artist
Contemporary or Post-War – theme or group
Impressionist or Modern – solo artist
Impressionist or Modern – theme or group
Renaissance, Baroque, Old Masters or Dynasties – solo artist
Renaissance, Baroque, Old Masters or Dynasties – theme or group
Ancient Art
Public Art
Design
Photography
Fringe
Global Planet (NEW in 2017)
Global Humanity (NEW in 2017)
GFAA Judges
The 2018 GFAA Jury is comprised of these highly-esteemed art professionals:
- Savita Apte, Art historian and lecturer specializing in Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art
- Dr. James M. Bradburne, Director General of the Pinacoteca di Brera and the Biblioteca Braidense, Milan
- Gina Costa, Art historian and curator, previously at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago
- Dr. Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Professor of Art, Philosophy and Law, University of London
- Dr. Joe Lin-Hill, Deputy Director of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery
- Dean Phelus, American Alliance of Museum's Senior Director of Leadership Programs
GFAA Research and Nominating Committee
- Research Chair Kimberly Lin– BA in Art History in modern and contemporary art from the UC Berkeley; Degree in fashion design from Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising; Post War Contemporary Art program, Sotheby’s London
- Nominating Committee Chair Betsie Piussan– MBA from NYU; BA Stanford University, studied at l’Université de Paris and l’Ecole du Louvre, Design Certificate NY School of Interior Design
- Peter Trippi– Editor-in-Chief, Fine Art Connoisseur magazine; GFAA Judge Emeritus
- Salwa Mikdadi– Associate Professor of Art History, NYU Abu Dhabi
- Patricia Lannes– Founder of Cultures and Literacies through Art for the 21st Century; Chair, Global Latino Network AAM
- Renee Farina– Biennale di Firenze (Florence) International Selection Committee; Gallery owner; formerly of Christie’s Masters, Modern and Contemporary Departments, NYC, former GFAA Research Committee Chair
Key dates and information
- Open call: Web-based submissions will be accepted now through Jun 1, 2018, 11:59 p.m. Eastern
- Upload information here to apply (https://globalfineartawards.submittable.com/submit)
- To qualify for 2018 awards, the exhibition or installation must begin between August 1, 2017 and July 31, 2018. (note: traveling exhibitions may enter the competition, with acknowledgement shared with partner institutions).
- Selected submissions will receive notification of their status by September 1, 2018.
- GFAA will issue an international press release announcing the Nominees in October 2018.
- GFAA will celebrate all Nominees and announce the Winners in March 2019 at a black-tie Ceremony and Gala.
- Application fee: $180
What Selected Nominees receive
All Nominees are featured in extensive marketing, social media, public relations and permanently on the GFAA website. Additionally, GFAA will create a uniquely curated video for each of the Finalists, which will be presented at the Award Ceremony, on the website and social media channels. All Nominees and Finalists are invited as our guests to the Award Ceremony in March, 2019, when the Winners will be revealed live at the red carpet gala.
Congratulations to the 2017 GFAA Winners
Global Planet
Andy Goldsworthy / lifetime / global; England
Global Humanity
Shirin Neshat: The Home of My Eyes / Museo Correr / Venice, Italy
Best Contemporary / Post-War -Solo Artist
Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors / Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden / Washington DC, USA
Best Contemporary / Post-War -Solo Artist
Abstract Expressionism / Royal Academy, Guggenheim Bilbao / London, England; Bilbao, Spain
Best Impressionist and Modern (1838-WWII) – Solo Artist
Medardo Rosso: Experiments in Light and Form / Pulitzer Arts Foundation / St. Louis, USA
Best Impressionist and Modern (1838-WWII) – Group or Theme
Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932 / Royal Academy of Arts / London, England
Best Renaissance, Baroque, Old Masters and Dynasties (1200 - 1838) – Solo Artist
Raphael: The Drawings / Ashmolean Museum / Oxford, England
Best Renaissance, Baroque, Old Masters and Dynasties (1200 - 1838) – Group or Theme
Remembering Antiquity: The Ancient World through Medieval Eyes / The J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center / Los Angeles
Best Ancient Art (BC - approx 1200)
Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C-A.D 220) / The Metropolitan Museum of Art / NYC
Best Public or Outdoor Installation/Exhibition
The Garden - End of Times; Beginning of Times / ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum / Aarhus, Denmark
Best Design
Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive / Museum of Modern Art / NYC, USA
Best Photography
Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change / International Center of Photography (ICP) / NYC, USA
Best Fringe / Alternative Exhibition
The Islamic Treasures of Africa. From Timbuktu to Zanzibar / Institut du Monde Arabe / Paris, France
Honorable mention:
Farideh Lashai: When I Count, There Are Only You… But When I Look, There Is Only a Shadow / Museo del Prado and The British Museum / Madrid, Spain; London, England
Youniversal
A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC - 200 AD / Onassis Cultural Center New York / NYC, USA
Honorable mention:
Lawrence Alma-Tadema / Fries Museum, Belvedere Museum, Leighton House Museum / Leeuwarden, Netherlands / Vienna, Austria / London, England
YOU-2
Lawrence Alma-Tadema / Fries Museum, Belvedere Museum, Leighton House Museum / Leeuwarden, Netherlands / Vienna, Austria / London, England
2017 Corporate Sponsors
ARIS Title Insurance Corporation, Crowell & Moring LLP, K&L Gates LLP, Liberty International Underwriters, Louis Xlll Cognac, Pryor Cashman LLP, Wiggin and Dana LLP
Media, Arts, Educational and Cultural Collaborators
The Armory Show, Alserkal Avenue (Dubai), American Alliance of Museums (AAM), Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), De la Cruz Collection (Miami), DSL Collection (Paris), Edward Tyler Nahem Gallery, Family Office Elite magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, Fractured Atlas, Galerie Lelong & Co., Gladstone Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Alison Jacques Gallery (London), Leighton House Museum, Leila Heller Gallery (New York and Dubai), Mapme, Marlborough Gallery, National Arts Club, Onassis Foundation USA, Paddle8, Traveling Exhibits Network, Vastari, White Rabbit Collection (Sydney), world red eye productions
