24th Annual
N O   D E A D   A R T I S T S
International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art22 August – 31 October
First Saturday Receptions ::: 5 September + 2 October, 12 – 7pm

JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY proudly presents the 24th Annual NO DEAD ARTISTS International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art. For the 2020 installment of the exhibition, the gallery will host works by fifteen artists from and/or working across the United States, as well as, Argentina, the UK, Cuba, Austria, and Costa Rica. The exhibition will be on view from 22 August to 31 October 2020 with self-guided art walks on 5 September and 2 October 2020 from 12 – 7 pm in conjunction with the Arts District New Orleans’ (ADNO) First Saturday Gallery Openings.

The NO DEAD ARTISTS exhibition was founded by Jonathan Ferrara in 1995 to give a voice to emerging artists. The exhibition’s name is derived from the old adage that artists never achieve success until they are dead. NO DEAD ARTISTS turns that notion on its head and often gives emerging artists their first break in the art world. In the 90’s, the exhibition was open to New Orleans-based artists and subsequently grew to include artists of Louisiana, then becoming a national juried exhibition in 2010. And in 2014, the exhibition went international. Now in its 24th iteration, the exhibition has been a springboard for numerous artists; leading to national press coverage, recognition, gallery representation and acquisitions by museums and other prominent collections.

::: 2020 Jurors :::

Jessie Schott Haynes – Managing Director of The Helis Foundation
Nato Thompson – curator, author, and The Sueyun and Gene Locks Artistic Director at Philadelphia Contemporary
Carey Mack Weber – Executive Director of the Fairfield University Art Museum

:: The 24th Annual NO DEAD ARTISTS Finalists :::

ARTEMIS ANTIPPAS – New Orleans, LA

ADRIENNE BROWN-DAVID – Water Valley, MS

MARCELLA COLAVECCHIO – Austin, TX

SONYA TANAE FORT – Brockton, MA

MATT HENRY – Brighton, England

BARBARA KUEBEL – Daphne, AL

KRISTINA LARSON – New Orleans, LA

LAUREN MABRY – Philadelphia, PA

ARNY NADLER – St. Louis, MO

ONZIE NORMAN – Wixom, MI

NORTON PEASE – Statesboro, GA

JULIA ROMANO – Cordoba, Argentina

BRIAN ST. CYR – New Orleans, LA

TRENITY THOMAS – Westwego, LA

ALEXI TORRES – Atlanta, GA & Zancudo, Costa Rica

Comprised of painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, collage, and installation, NO DEAD ARTISTS continues to exhibit a great diversity in media with a cohesive cross-section of the pulse of contemporary art.
Presenting just over 40 artworks by fifteen artists, this diverse symposium ranges in media, style, and purpose from the photo-realistic portraits of the critically acclaimed, Cuban painter, Alexi Torres, to the first-ever exposition of locally emerging photographer Trenity Thomas. Other exhibition highlights include the newest ceramic works of Lauren Mabry, as well as, two photographs from Matt Henry’s “The Trip and the book Short Stories” series. Artemis Antippas installed three new neon sculptures over a navy blue wall in the center of the main gallery and Julia Romano sent three photo collages from Córdoba, Argentina.
For the grand prize of the exhibition, one of the selected jury winning artists will be awarded a solo exhibition at JFG in 2021. Previous recipient awardees include Nikki Rosato (2012, Washington D.C.), Marna Shopoff (2014, Indianapolis), Richelle Gribble (Los Angeles, 2015), Jenny Day (Santa Fe, 2017) and jointly Maggie Evans (Savannah) and Chris Barnard (New Haven) in 2019. Not only have past finalists received solo shows at t h e gallery but some have also successfully gone on to exhibit with us at art fairs in New York, Miami, Basel (Switzerland), Leipzig (Germany), San Francisco, Houston, Seattle, and other traveling exhibitions and museums worldwide. These artists and the No Dead Artists exhibition have garnered great interest from curators, museums, and press and have also been acquired by many prominent public and private collections. . . Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2020 winner at the close of the exhibition.

For more information, press or sales inquiries please contact the gallery director Matthew Weldon Showman at 504.343.6827 or matthew@jonathanferraragallery.com. Please join the conversation with JFG on Facebook (@JonathanFerraraGallery), Twitter (@JFerraraGallery), and Instagram (@JonathanFerraraGallery) via the hashtags:  #NoDeadArtists, #NDA2020 and #JonathanFerraraGallery.