Description

WHAT: A national call for visual art entries.

WHO: Mark Mothersbaugh, Juror

WHERE: Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, Kansas.

WHEN: June 19 – July 25, 2020.

SUBMISSION PERIOD: Through May 11, 2020 (11:59pm CST).

CALL DESCRIPTION: A juried group exhibition, Divine, presented by the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, Kansas. The Exhibition will be held at the Lawrence Arts Center gallery, in conjunction with the 2020 Free State Festival. Mark Mothersbaugh will serve as juror. Artists are invited to submit works to a juried exhibition inspired by the legendary drag queen, Divine. This call for entry seeks original art, in any visual art medium that is inspired by all things Divine.

Divine
Spitting in the face of conventional beauty, Divine was the ultimate outcast-turned-cult-royalty. People magazine described him as “the Goddess of Gross, the Punk Elephant, the Big Bad Mama of the Midnight Movies… and a Miss Piggy for the blissfully depraved.”

Harris Glenn Milstead, also known as the performer “Divine,” was “one of the few truly radical and essential artists” of the 20th century. Divine became famous for his starring roles in many of John Waters’ films, most notably Hairspray and Pink Flamingos. The nickname “Divine” was also a John Waters creation.

A punk and a rebel, Divine’s legacy continues to this day, most notably through the inspiration he provides artists. Artists such as David Hockney and Andy Warhol have painted portraits of Divine, and Ursula the Sea Witch brought another version of Divine to Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

Artists are invited to submit works to a juried exhibition inspired by the legendary drag queen, Divine. This call for entry seeks original art, in any visual art medium that is inspired by all things Divine.

To submit your application please scroll to the end of this page and apply through Slideroom.
Mark Mothersbaugh is a Conceptualist. As an undergraduate art student at Kent State University, Mothersbaugh began creating work in the late 60’s and has created tens of thousands of works to current day in various mediums including, rubber stamp designs, mail art, decals, prints, ink illustrations, oil paintings, ceramic sculptures, manipulated photographs, video, ?lm compositions, sonic sculptures, rugs, screen savers and the list continues. While touring with his band DEVO, it was not uncommon for Mothersbaugh to lightly “correct” or add onto the bland paintings and prints that adorned the many hundreds of otherwise unmemorable hotel rooms that he occupied for one night at a time. Using a van, bus, hotel room, airplane, or any space as his workspace, he has created over 40,000 drawings which serve as the beginning of an idea that will emerge in his larger projects. Mothersbaugh views much of his work as experiments in “beatnik-stream of consciousness” poetry, which to him, is related to speaking in tongues; the surrendering of the intellect to the primordial, or science vs. faith An observer among us, Mothersbaugh writes down things that he overhears throughout the day… people at another table, a voice on the radio, pieces of verbal fabric that drift and weave and create the poetry of life, the ?otsam and jetsam that swirl around us and ?ll our subconscious with scraps of what it is to be, according to Mothersbaugh, a “thinking ape.”
AWARDS

Best of Show: $1,000

2nd place: $500

3rd place: $250

Directors’ Choice: The Exhibitions Director and Juror will select one artist for a future solo exhibition at the Lawrence Arts Center.

All awards will be selected June 25.

TIMELINE
May 11, 2020: Deadline for submission
May 13-15, 2020: Juror reviews work
May 18, 2020: Notifications go out to all artists
June 8-13, 2020: Work to arrive at the Lawrence Arts Center
June 19 – July 25, 2020: Exhibition Dates
June 24-25, 2020: Awards selected
June 22-26, 2020: Free State Festival
June 25, 2020: Reception
July 26, 2020: Begin de-installation, return shipping