ArtPrize - Jerry Gretzinger - An open art contest based in Grand Rapids Michigan, the world's largest Art Prize.

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Artist information:
Jerry Gretzinger
Cold Spring, NY

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Jerry Gretzinger is showing at:
	The Old Federal Building 155 N Division Ave Grand Rapids, MI 49503 View profile

Jerry Gretzinger
Artist bio: I was born in Grand Rapids in 1942, attended a one-room school at Burton and East Paris, and was the valedictorian at Ottawa Hills High School, class of 1960. After three years at the University of Michigan I transfered to the University of California, Berkeley. I spent a year there studying architecture and then went into the Peace Corps, Tunisia, as a highway surveyor and, later, architect for the Institute of Archeololgy. In 1966 I returned to Ann Arbor and completed a degree in Art History. The next year was spent in Grand Rapids where I worked for Daverman Associates, an architectural firm. I returned to Tunisia in 1968 as the architect for a team of archeologists cataloging the ancient mosaics of the country. In 1973 I moved to New York where I started a company which made handbags and women's clothing until my retirement in 2004. I currently reside in Cold Spring, New York and Maple City, Michigan. I am married and have four grown children and two granddaughters.
Artist statement: In 1963 I started drawing a map of an imaginary place. I worked on it for the next twenty years. In 2003 my son, Henry, rediscovered the map in our attic. I reformatted it and began working on it daily in my home studio in Cold Spring, New York. The Map now is comprised of almost 2000 8 by 10 inch panels covering an area whose maximum dimensions are roughly 38 by 38 feet. It is executed in watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink, acrylic and collage on heavy paper. Sixteen panels of The Map were exhibited at a show in Oakland, California in 2004. A large section will be shown at the Garrison Art Center in New York beginning September 11, 2009. A section is included in a book by Katharine Harmon, The Map as Art, to be published by Princeton Architectural Press in September, 2009. For more information see gretzingermap.com. For ArtPrize I will be showing in the Old Federal Building about 600 of the panels spanning about 12 by 30 feet.

Jerry Gretzinger

Artist bio: I was born in Grand Rapids in 1942, attended a one-room school at Burton and East Paris, and was the valedictorian at Ottawa Hills High School, class of 1960. After three years at the University of Michigan I transfered to the University of California, Berkeley. I spent a year there studying architecture and then went into the Peace Corps, Tunisia, as a highway surveyor and, later, architect for the Institute of Archeololgy.

In 1966 I returned to Ann Arbor and completed a degree in Art History. The next year was spent in Grand Rapids where I worked for Daverman Associates, an architectural firm. I returned to Tunisia in 1968 as the architect for a team of archeologists cataloging the ancient mosaics of the country.

In 1973 I moved to New York where I started a company which made handbags and women's clothing until my retirement in 2004.

I currently reside in Cold Spring, New York and Maple City, Michigan. I am married and have four grown children and two granddaughters.

Artist statement: In 1963 I started drawing a map of an imaginary place. I worked on it for the next twenty years.

In 2003 my son, Henry, rediscovered the map in our attic. I reformatted it and began working on it daily in my home studio in Cold Spring, New York.

The Map now is comprised of almost 2000 8 by 10 inch panels covering an area whose maximum dimensions are roughly 38 by 38 feet. It is executed in watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink, acrylic and collage on heavy paper.

Sixteen panels of The Map were exhibited at a show in Oakland, California in 2004. A large section will be shown at the Garrison Art Center in New York beginning September 11, 2009. A section is included in a book by Katharine Harmon, The Map as Art, to be published by Princeton Architectural Press in September, 2009.

For more information see gretzingermap.com.

For ArtPrize I will be showing in the Old Federal Building about 600 of the panels spanning about 12 by 30 feet.

About the work:
Title: The Gretzinger Map
Art form: 2-D, Film / Video
Medium: Acrylic, collage, watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink on heavy paper
Year created: 1963
Description of work: The Map is of an imaginary place. It is executed on almost 2000 individual 8 by 10 inch panels which span about 36 feet horizontally and 38 feet vertically. The work is done in watercolor, acrylic, gouache, pencil, ink, inkjet print and collage on heavy paper. Most areas are readily recognized as map but some are quite abstract. Many images of The Map are displayed at gretzingermap.com. For ArtPrize I would propose to exhibit approximately 600 of the panels covering about 12 by 30 feet. They would be mounted to a wall by a removable adhesive. Available also is an accompanying video describing my process for making The Map.
Work statement: This work began as an idle doodle in August, 1963. I began drawing what I thought of as a European city, possibly London. When I came to the edge of the first piece of paper I added another. The Map continued to expand at its periphery, and will continue to until I am no longer able to produce it. This is a perpetual work. When a panel is completed it is photocopied. The original is archived, and I re-work parts of the copy. So, The Map evolves over time. Cities grow; infrastructure expands; physical features are modified. Execution of The Map is accomplished by set of rules. I keep a journal of the rules as they evolve. A deck of playing cards serves as a random number generator. The combination of rules and random selection determines how the map is made- where new cities are located, for example. So, the entire process is a simulation of the interplay between natural law and random selection.
Technical details:
Work width:	360 inches
Work height:	144 inches
Work depth:	n/a
Required venue ceiling:	n/a
Required venue door height:	n/a
Required venue door width:	n/a
Required wall linear footage:	30 ft.
Required venue square footage:	n/a
Additional considerations:
Audio/video needed:	Yes
Electrical needed:	No
Lighting needed:	Yes
Internet access needed:	No
Ground floor access needed:	No
Indoor space needed:	Yes
Outdoor space needed:	No

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ArtPrize
A radically open art competition, giving away the world's largest art prize. Part arts festival, part social experiment - this international art contest is decided solely on a public vote. Art festival runs Sept. 22 through October 10, 2010. Come and see.