2010 Juror – Mario Naves

Mario Naves is an artist, writer and teacher who lives and works in New York City. He is renowned for his torn and cut abstract collages, works of art that have been described by The New York Times as being “delicate and gorgeous” and by Art in America as “joyous”, “sophisticated”, “charming” and “goofy”.  Elizabeth Harris Gallery in Chelsea represents Naves’ art, where it has been featured in four one-person exhibitions.  His collages are included in private and corporate collections across the world.

Naves has been the recipient of awards from The National Endowment for The Arts, The George Sugarman Foundation, the E.D. Foundation and The National Academy Museum.  He was recently named a Distinguished Alumni by the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah.

A critic as well as practicing artist, Naves has written on the visual arts for over twenty years.  He has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, The New Criterion, Smithsonian, New Art Examiner, Slate and, from 1999-2009, The New York Observer, where his sometimes prickly opinions earned him the reputation of being a “maverick dissenter”.  He is currently a gallery critic for City Arts, a bi-weekly journal devoted to culture in New York.

Naves has taught and lectured at The Cooper Union, The New York Studio School, Montclair State University, Rutgers University, The National Academy and The Ringling College of Art and Design.  He currently teaches at Pratt Institute and Brooklyn College.