The 25 Best Galleries In America annually vote on online art submitted around the globe.
This year the American Art Awards (www.AmericanArtAwards.com) had winners from 40 countries including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, UK, USA, and Wales.
In CATEGORY 39, SELF-PORTRAIT, galleries scored American McGarren Flack's self-portrait 1st Place. Austria's Jolanda Richter was awarded 2nd Place. American William Thompson received 3rd and tied for 4th with Australia's Jingxin Xu. Three more Americans received honors: Jeeyoon Kim, Donald Rizzo and Jookyung Han.
2016 AMERICAN ART AWARDS WINNING ARTISTS FOR CATEGORY 39. SELF-PORTRAIT:
1ST PLACE: MCGARREN FLACK, USA, www.flackstudio.com, "Self Portrait 2016" 24 x 18" Oil on linen.
2ND PLACE: JOLANDA RICHTER, AUSTRIA, www.jolanda.at, “True Self” 100 x 140cm Oil on canvas.
3RD PLACE: WILLIAM THOMPSON, USA, www.williamthompsonart.squarespace.com, "False Hope" 63 x 84" Oil.
4TH – TIE: JINGXIN XU, AUSTRALIA, jxu@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au, “Self-Portrait Of Society” 24 x 27” Oil on canvas.
4TH – TIE: WILLIAM THOMPSON, USA, www.williamthompsonart.squarespace.com, "SP Scream" 6 x 9" Oil on masonite.
5TH PLACE: JEEYOON KIM (JENNA), USA, 98jiyoon@gmail.com, "Many Me” 770 × 1020mm Acrylic on canvas.
6TH – TIE: DONALD RIZZO, USA, www.donald-rizzo.com, "You And Me Make Three" 38 x 54" Acrylic on canvas.
6TH – TIE: JOOKYUNG HAN, USA, www.jookyunghan@gmail.com, "Those days" 12.5 x 17" Oil pastel on illustration board.
BIO ON 1ST PLACE WINNER MCGARREN FLACK:
McGarren Flack was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1979. His father was a dentist and his mother stayed at home to raise the kids. McGarren would draw here and there like any child his age and became interested in comic books as a teenager. He took a drawing and painting class in high school mostly because he couldn't sing or play an instrument.
It wasn't until he moved back to Washington D.C. to serve a mission for the LDS church that he realized painting had a strong impact on him. He went to the National Gallery of Art and saw the John Singer Sargent traveling exhibit in 2000 and was amazed that an artist could have created such lifelike works but have such simple brush strokes. After returning home in 2001 from his mission, McGarren met his wife at a Dixie State College dance while visiting St. George and they were married 8 months later. The new couple moved to Utah County to go to school. Flack went to Utah Valley University to earn his associates and to prepare to go to med school. It was always in his sites to become a Cardiovascular Surgeon. He needed to take an art class to earn his associates so he took a drawing class. He did not like his teacher or some of the content taught in the class but he found that when he would draw time had no existence. Becoming an artist was his newfound desire.
McGarren changed his major to art and then searched for the school in Utah that would best train him to draw and paint the figure. All the fine art schools focused on non-representational art so he went to Brigham Young University and was accepted into the Illustration program. He also studied with Ryan Brown. Flack's father died just before he earned his BFA in 2005 at BYU and so his family moved to SLC to help his newly widowed mother. Flack had been selling his art in local galleries and art shows before being accepted into the University of Utah's MFA program in painting in 2006 and also studied with Kamille Corry on the side. In 2008 McGarren earned his MFA and started teaching at the local universities due to the economy tanking.
Currently McGarren teaches full time as an Assistant Professor at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah and sells his artwork nation wide to various collectors.
SEE MORE OF MCGARREN FLACK'S WORK HERE: www.flackstudio.com
BELOW ARE THE 25 BEST GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS IN AMERICA, 2016, WHO VOTED ON ALL ONLINE ART SUBMISSIONS:
BEST IN CALIFORNIA -- EXCLUSIVE COLLECTIONS GALLERY.
"... professionalism, reputation, gallery space, red carpet events, trajectory, artist roster and clientele... Beverly Hills location... Laguna Beach location... two San Diego locations...”
BEST IN PENNSYLVANIA -- JAMES A. MICHENER ART MUSEUM.
"... 40,000 square feet... world-class group of paintings... 2,800 objects... attract annually more than 135,000 visitors..."
BEST IN ILLINOIS -- HILLIGOSS GALLERIES.
"20 years... Chicago’s Premier Art Gallery. The two-story 8,500 square foot gallery... original paintings by the world's finest living artists, as well as fine prints by historic and 20th century masters."
BEST IN UTAH -- UTAH MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART.
"...epitome of a contemporary museum... an award-winning aesthetic force and community leader since it was established 85 years ago... four-time recipient of funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation..."
BEST IN IOWA -- MOBERG GALLERY.
"... exceptional eye for contemporary masterpieces... procured work for museums, corporate collections, private collections... sets the standard for modern art in the Midwest."
BEST IN RHODE ISLAND -- RISD MUSEUM.
"140 years... 100,000 objects... Impressionist paintings, 20th- and 21st-century design, Gorham silver, 12th-century Buddha... Cézanne, Degas, Matisse, Manet, Picasso, Rothko, Sargent, Turner, van Gogh, Warhol..."
BEST IN COLORADO -- COLORADO SPRINGS FINE ART CENTER.
"132,000 sq. ft... one of the only multi-discipline arts institutions... For nearly 100 years, the top cultural attraction of the Pikes Peak region... world’s finest art... "
BEST IN SOUTH DAKOTA -- SOUTH DAKOTA ART MUSEUM.
"Since 1970... artistic legacy of South Dakota in all its diversity. Harvey Dunn, Native American art, Marghab Linens... 7,000 objects in its collection..."
BEST IN NEBRASKA -- KIECHEL FINE ART.
"...few have the roster and esteem as Keichel... discerning eye... three story four gallery showplace... many of the top Midwestern Contemporary artists... "
BEST IN LOUISIANA -- NEWCOMB ART MUSEUM.
"... founded in 1886... pays tribute to its heritage through shows that recognize the contributions of women to the fields of art and design...."
BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA -- MARY MARTIN GALLERY OF FINE ART.
"...museum quality art ... number one tourist destination in America... on par with Beverly Hill’s Rodeo Drive and NY’s Fifth Avenue..."
BEST IN KENTUCKY -- E&S GALLERY.
"... professionalism, reputation, gallery space, exhibitions, artist roster and clientele ... 11,000 square foot gallery... African American art with an unmatched selection of artists, medium, subject matter, and genres... "
BEST IN INDIANA -- GRUNWALD GALLERY OF ART.
"... thirty exhibits annually... collaborate with scientists and scholars to produce exhibits that interpret visual art in a broader scientific or humanities context... "
BEST IN HAWAII -- LIK LAHAINA, LIKE WAIKIKI.
"Peter Lik has 13 exceptional gallery locations throughout the word and is the most successful photographer in the world... sold upwards of $500 million... Lik’s works make up four of the top 20 most expensive photographs ever sold."
BEST IN NEVADA -- NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART.
"...four-story structure... 2,500 works of 19th through 21st-century art... inspiring dialogue about the impact of human activity on natural environments..."
BEST IN NEW JERSEY -- EVALYN DUNN GALLERY.
"It is very rare to find a gallery so successful that it is approaching it’s 60th year... also features the finest 20th Century American and European art..."
BEST IN FLORIDA -- ART FUSION GALLERIES.
"8,000 square foot... in the heart of Miami’s Wynwood Art District... preeminent gallery in Miami for integrating the best of Emerging to Mid-Career Contemporary artists... represents over 1,000... "
BEST IN MINNESOTA -- DOUBLETAKE GALLERY.
"...enormous international Internet presence, with millions of hits... LeRoy Neiman, Salvador Dali, Peter Max, Frederick Hart, Erte, Norman Rockwell... fine art consignment and brokerage service... "
BEST IN IDAHO -- PRICHARD ART GALLERY.
"...premier venue for the state of Idaho... critically engaged, forward thinking arts space... freedom-oriented... encourages experimentation... emerging as well as established artists... "
BEST IN OKLAHOMA -- OKLAHOMA CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER.
"...Nonprofit organization... encourages artistic expression... Oklahoma’s top artists... $26 million capital campaign... spectacular new facility just south of downtown OK..."
BEST IN NEW MEXICO -- WILDER NIGHTINGALE GALLERY.
"22 years... eclectic works ranging from contemporary abstracts to traditional Taos landscapes... Leading artist such as BJ Briner, Tom Noble, Rory Wagner, Margaret Nes and Stephen Day..."
BEST IN MICHIGAN -- ART LEADERS GALLERY.
"10,000 square foot show room... over 24 years they have earned an impeccable reputation and are one of the leading residential and corporate art dealers in the state."
BEST IN OREGON -- BRONZE COAST GALLERY.
"24th year... one of the Oregon Coast's premiere fine art galleries... specializing in limited edition bronze sculpture... popular tourist attraction... award-winning regional, national and international artists..."
BEST IN WASHINGTON -- BRICK WALL PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY.
""...only Spokane gallery dedicated entirely to photography... some of the finest photography in America... nature, landscapes, as well as contemporary compositions by students and educators..."
BEST IN MAINE -- FARNSWORTH ART MUSEUM.
"20,000 square feet... 15,000 works. For nearly seventy years, they have exhibited a nationally recognized collection of art from America’s greatest artists..."
ARTISTS CAN ENTER FOR 2017 HERE: www.AmericanArtAwards.com