On Display in our Virtual Gallery from June 15 – July 31, 2024

View the Art in this Show   Artists In This Show       Watch the Juror Talk       Award Winners

 

Introducing Portals

A portal can be a large entrance, a grand and imposing doorway, or a futuristic passageway to another world. Besides being an opening to new places, portals can also serve as openings to new experiences and sensations. Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) asks artists to share their interpretations of portals – whether literal or metaphorical, and to share their artistic perspectives and representations of the concept of portals as they see it. Entry is open to all artists residing internationally. All original 2D or 3D artwork in any media is eligible for this online show. Works selected by the juror will be on display in MFA’s online gallery, Curve Gallery, from June 14 – July 31, 2024.

 Click this icon to view and print the downloadable prospectus.

Juror: Giulia Livi: Multidisciplinary Artist & Educator 

Giulia Piera Livi is an interdisciplinary artist working in painting and installation.  Her immersive rooms employ hyper-cohesive color and abstract forms to work out ideas of multi-functional art objects and curated domesticity.  She has exhibited both nationally and internationally with notable shows at the Delaware Contemporary Museum (Wilmington, DE), the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington (Arlington, VA), Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Brooklyn, NY), Governor’s Island Art Fair (NY), Untitled Space (New York, NY), Mono Practice (Baltimore, MD), Guest Spot @ the REINSTITUTE (Baltimore, MD), Dream Clinic (Columbus, OH), VAE Gallery (Raleigh, NC), and Walter Otero Contemporary Art (San Juan, Puerto Rico).  Giulia was granted fellowships to complete residencies at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts in 2023 and Vermont Studio Center in 2018. She received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council in 2019,  a Trawick Young Artist Prize from the Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards in 2017, and was included in Issue No. 148 of New American Paintings.  Giulia is currently a part-time faculty at Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, NY) and MICA (Baltimore, MD).

Juror’s Statement

The 2024 exhibition “Portals,” hosted by the Maryland Federation of Art, features contemporary painting, drawing, photography, and multidisciplinary work selected for its impact and innovation. Each participating artist brings a unique interpretation of what a portal can represent. While some works confront the term literally through depictions of doorways, windows, and other architectural openings, others search for new possibilities of materiality and form, suggesting that a portal can represent a certain responsiveness to new experiences.

Approaching the polarity of observational realism and pure abstraction, plus all of the space in between, this collection of works examines a wide variety of creative gestures. However, as a curated grouping, the work converses on ideas of perceptual shifts. Through a diverse range of mediums and artistic approaches, this exhibition encourages viewers to reflect on the power of making and consider a portal as an expansive visual metaphor

Awards

Information for Accepted Artists

Exhibition Schedule

Exhibition Schedule

  • Jan 31 Online Entry Opens for Submissions
  • Apr 3 Entry Deadline
  • May 7 Notification @ 5 PM
  • Jun 14 Exhibition Opens Online
  • Jul 1 Awards Announced @ 5 PM
  • Jul 31 Last Day of Online Exhibition
General Guidelines

Notification

All artists will receive notification by email. Artists who have unsubscribed from MFA’s emails will not receive notification. Accepted artists and artwork will also be posted on MFA’s website.
The notice to accepted artists will include specific details and may vary from the prospectus.
Please set your email account to recognize info@mdfedart.org.