Judging Panel
Shepard Fairey
, artist, activistBorn in Charleston, South Carolina in 1970, Shepard Fairey is a contemporary artist, graphic designer and illustrator. Fairey graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1992 with a BA in illustration. He is one of the most prolific and infamous urban artists, known worldwide for his iconic image of Andre the Giant and his "Obey" campaign in countless variations, stenciled and wheat-pasted on walls around the world for almost 20 years. In addition to continuing the "Obey" project, Shepard founded Studio Number One, a creative studio, bringing together a team of highly skilled graphic designers to create commercial art and advertising. Shepard's political irony transformed into reality this year when his "HOPE" poster became an icon of the Obama campaign and the values it represents. His "PROGRESS," "HOPE," and "CHANGE" posters have made a huge impact in the visibility of the Obama campaign; Senator Obama himself personally thanked Fairey for making this art. Shepard Fairey currently resides in Los Angeles, California. http://www.obeygiant.com
Moby
, musician, songwriter, producer, activistMoby is an award-winning, Grammy-nominated worldwide multi-platinum-selling recording artist, producer and musician with more than 14 albums under his belt. He's a prolific songwriter and producer, having written and/or produced artists as diverse as Guns N' Roses, Britney Spears, and Michael Jackson. He's also a devoted activist for progressive causes and co-founder of MoveOn.org's "Bush in 30 Seconds" project. Moby's latest album, Last Night, hit music stores in April 2008. http://www.moby.com
Thurston Moore
, musician, artist, authorIn 1980 Thurston Moore formed the seminal and influential band Sonic Youth as a lead guitarist and singer, with Kim Gordon (bass guitars/vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (lead guitars/vocals). Sonic Youth are regarded as one of the leading alternative rocks bands of their time, releasing more than 15 albums and inspiring bands like Nirvana, Pavement and Radiohead. Moore was born in Coral Gables, Florida in 1958; he married band member Kim Gordon in 1984, and their daughter, Coco, was born in 1994. Moore has been described as one of the world's greatest and most innovative guitarists, and has been involved in numerous side projects, most notably his acclaimed solo albums and collaborations with artists like DJ Spooky, J Mascis, and former Half Japanese guitarist Tim Foljahn. Moore has also written music reviews and other pieces for Arthur magazine, and in 2005 edited the book Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture.
Nancy Spector
, author and Curator of Contemporary Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim MuseumNancy Spector is Curator of Contemporary Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, where she has organized exhibitions on conceptual photography, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Matthew Barney's Cremaster cycle. In 1997, Spector was Adjunct Curator of the 1997 Venice Biennale and co-organizer of the first Berlin Biennale. Under the auspices of the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin, she has initiated special commissions by Andreas Slominski, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Lawrence Weiner. She has contributed to numerous books on contemporary visual culture, with essays on artists such as Maurizio Cattelan, Luc Tuymans, Douglas Gordon, Sam Taylor-Wood, and Anna Gaskell. She is a recipient of the Peter Norton Family Foundation Curators Award.
DJ Spooky
, artist, writer, musicianPaul D. Miller is a conceptual artist, writer and musician working in New York. Best known under the moniker of his "constructed persona" as "DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid," Miller has recorded a huge volume of music and has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians and composers such as Iannis Xenakis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Butch Morris, Kool Keith a.k.a. Doctor Octagon, Pierre Boulez, Killah Priest from Wu-Tang Clan, Steve Reich, Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth, and many others. He also composed and recorded the musical score for the Cannes and Sundance award-winning film "Slam," starring critically acclaimed poet Saul Williams.
Miller's written work has appeared in The Village Voice, The Source, Artforum, Raygun, Rap Pages, Paper, and a host of other periodicals. Miller's first collection of essays, Rhythm Science, was published by MIT Press in April 2004, and in 2005 he published Sound Unbound, an anthology of writings on sound art and multimedia by contemporary cultural theorists. Miller's work as a media artist has appeared in a wide variety of contexts, including the Whitney Biennial, The Venice Biennial for Architecture (2000), the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, Germany, The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, and many other museums and galleries. http://www.djspooky.com
Cydney Payton
, Executive Director and Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, DenverSince Cydney Payton began her tenure at MCA DENVER in January 2001, she has led the museum through a nearly complete $16.5 million building campaign, the realization of its new permanent home designed by Adjaye, while also acting as Chief Curator.
Ross Bleckner
, artistRoss Bleckner was born in 1949 in New York City. He earned a BA in 1971 at New York University and, two years later, completed an MFA at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. Bleckner's first solo exhibition was held in 1975 at Cunningham Ward Gallery in New York, and his first solo museum exhibition at the San Francisco MOMA in 1988. He has since had numerous solo exhibitions, including a mid-career retrospective at the Guggenheim in 1995, and has been represented in many group exhibitions devoted to abstraction, as well as at the Whitney Biennial (1975, 1987 and 1989), Biennale of Sydney (1988), and Carnegie International (1988). http://www.rbleckner.com
April Gornik
, artistBorn in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1953, April Gornik received a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1976. Gornik uses photographs, memories and dreams as inspirations for her paintings. She approaches her subject as an exploration of light and color, producing hauntingly beautiful, evocative views of nature. Her paintings, drawings and prints possess an unmistakable personal and intimate quality. She has work in dozens of public collections, and has shown extensively, in solo and group shows, in the United States and abroad. http://www.aprilgornik.com
Eric Fischl
, artistBorn in New York City in 1948, Eric Fischl grew up in the suburbs of Long Island and earned his BFA in 1972 at the then-recently-opened California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. He met his wife April Gornik at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design; in 1978 they moved to New York City, where they continue to live and work. Fischl had his first of over 50 solo shows in 1975, earning a reputation as a New Image painter of the Post Modern movement. He is known for provocative, harshly realistic figure and genre scenes; his art appears in over 40 major public collections. http://ericfischl.com
Laura Dawn
, MoveOn.org Creative & Cultural Director, artistLaura Dawn has served as the Creative and Cultural Director of MoveOn.org since 2003. Her campaigns have changed not only the way citizens participate in politics, but also how artists instigate social change. Dawn co-created the "Bush in 30 Seconds" ad contest, and co-created and co-organized dozens of innovative national campaigns combining the grassroots with established artists. Campaigns include: the "10 Weeks" ad campaign with film luminaries Richard Linklater, Darren Aronofsky, Doug Liman, Rob Reiner, Matt Damon, Allison Anders and many others; the "Video Vets" campaign with dozens of returning Iraq veterans, military family members, and Academy-Award-winning film director Oliver Stone; the "Vote for Change" concert tour; the "Obama in 30 Seconds" ad contest; and many other nationally-recognized creative campaigns that have combined the power of artists and activists.
An accomplished singer and songwriter, Laura collaborated with Moby on his multi-platinum-selling album Hotel and has toured the world as his featured singer. In 2005, Laura compiled and edited the book It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, the story of MoveOn.org Civic Action's Hurricane Housing program that housed over 30,000 Gulf Coast evacuees in the weeks following the storm.