Mat Gleason: The Hung Juror In Las Vegas

The Art World has a long tradition of holding juried art shows to fund independent, alternative and non-profit galleries. Juried shows are the gateway to many an art career, but carry the stigma of leaving many artists high and dry, paying for the privilege of being rejected.

I was invited to jury the 23rd annual juried show for the Contemporary Art Center in Las Vegas. Filmmaker Eric Minh Swenson has made what I believe to be the first documentary of jurying an exhibit of contemporary art. He accompanied me on the journeys involved -- first, the arduous task of reviewing the submissions. Six hundred fourteen artworks were submitted for my perusal, and then to celebrate the exhibit in Sin City itself. Volunteers and staff at the CAC explained to me that this the largest number of submissions that they had received in memory. Many attributed this to the high profile that the Huffington Post has delivered for my writing. For all the guff this site gets for not compensating writers, my status has expanded here, a fact not lost over five free nights at the El Cortez Hotel, one of the show's sponsors.

There were many artworks submitted that were within the parameters of the well-made, conceptually rigorous artwork that art schools have long taught students to create. In looking through the submissions, though, I saw great pictures that did not conform to the art magazine flavor of the month but were epic combinations of talent and imagination nonetheless. I had to go rogue and reward originality and independence over pleasant half-step improvements on mainstream art world art. The resulting show was thus a departure for the CAC, but a welcome one. Of the 46 artists chosen, almost half were residents of the Las Vegas area. Of them, none had ever shown at the CAC. I was thanked profusely for bringing plenty of "new blood" into the organization.

Swenson's documentary The Hung Juror parallels the relationship of artists and curators with that of gamblers and casinos. Please enjoy this extensive look into what goes into and comes out of jurying an art exhibit.