Baltimore artist Erick Antonio Benitez has been awarded the top prize from EMULSION, a DC-based Juried Exhibition which opened Saturday, March 21.
“I was mainly driven to apply for Emulsion 2015 show, because of my aspirations to show more work outside of the Baltimore area,” says painter Erick Benitez. “I figured opportunities like Emulsion are a good place to start especially since DC has reputation as an abundantly growing art scene and easy location accesses to Baltimore.”
The Baltimore-based painter is a 2014 MICA graduate and has been the director of a prolific Copycat building exhibition space, La Bodega, since he was in college. Last year his work was chosen for the prestigious annual roundup of top BFA and MFA graduate work, Academy, at ConnerSmith Gallery in DC. In that group exhibit, Benitez showed his thesis work, a series called “Gangsters Paradise.” He has also participated a collaborative group show at Bodega Gallery, exhibiting sculpture and installation work, and has curated many of the shows in the past year.
EMULSION is a juried exhibition sponsored by East City Art, an online publication focusing on the arts in the upcoming east side of DC. Emulsion 2015 is their second annual show and this year’s juror is DC Gallery Owner Adah Rose Bitterbaum. The exhibition is hosted at Gallery O on H, located in the heart of the Atlas Entertainment District. This years prizes are $1,250 First Place Prize, $750 Second Place Prize, $500 Third Place Prize, with two People’s Choice Awards. To enter, artists had to be 0ver 18 and reside or create art within 50 miles of East City Art’s headquarters (located at 922 G Street SE, Washington, DC).
The prizes were awarded to surprised artists at the opening reception on Saturday, March 21. For those who want to check out the show, there is a catalogue available, and there will be a closing reception on Saturday, March 28 and weeklong programing. More info here.
