Washington D.C. photographer Jon Malis wins $5,000 prize from Naples Art Association

July 9, 2012 - PRLog -- Naples, Fla. – The Naples Art Association awarded $5,000 to Washington D.C. photographer Jon Malis, 27, naming him the winner of the second annual Camera USA: National Photography Exhibition and Award 2012. His artwork, Specimen 66, along with 47 additional photographs by artists from across the country is on view now through August 10, 2012 at The von Liebig Art Center.

This year's exhibition includes work by 48 artists from 19 different states. The $5,000 grand prize award was presented during the preview reception on Friday, June 1.

Malis is a member of the adjunct faculty at the American University’s school of communication/film and media arts. His prize-winning artwork is part of a larger body of work, reMind, which was inspired during research for documentary he and a team of American University filmmakers and anthropologists are producing. reMind is based on scientific specimens of brain tissue produced during the 1900s by Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital, a psychiatric hospital operated by the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health. It was the first large-scale, federally run psychiatric hospital in the United States. Malis found glass-plate slides of brain tissue among the stored artifacts at the hospital and felt the vibrations of a new artistic idea. “At the time, most of my personal work had to deal with personal investigations into my own memories, and I saw these as a perfect way to start examining the processes of memory and abstract interpretation outside my own personal experiences,” Malis said.

Juror Bradly Treadaway selected the winner of this exhibition by going with his instinct, praising Malis as a photographer, “who, instead of filling in the margins of our history books, is choosing to turn the page and help write a new chapter in photography,” he said. Treadaway’s full Juror’s statement and comments about this innovative photographer’s work is available on the Naples Art Association website at https://www.naplesart.org/content/camera-usa-national-pho...

In only its second year, Camera USA has attracted more than 150 entries from photographers all across the country. Photographs for the exhibition and the award winner were selected by Bradly Treadaway of the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York. Treadaway is a faculty member and the digital media coordinator for the ICP. Founded in 1974, the ICP is a photography museum, school and research center in Midtown Manhattan. Public programs at the ICP address issues in photography and its relationship to art, culture and society.
 
The Camera USA: National Photography Exhibition and Award 2012 will be on view in the Frederick O. Watson Gallery at The von Liebig Art Center through Aug. 10, 2012. It is generously sponsored by PNC Bank, Physicians Regional Healthcare System, Publix Super Markets Charities, Vi at Bentley Village and Naples Daily News. Thanks also ARTMove, LLC who provided artwork shipping and receiving, and to reception sponsor Here's Howe Catering.

About Jon Malis:
Originally from Andover, Massachusetts.
First got into photography at age six. "I won a camera in the local camera store's summer raffle. It was a little red block of plastic (the kind where you load the film, press a button, wind it up and you have no control over anything else in the equation), but it was enough to get me started."
Studied art as an undergraduate at The George Washington University.  
Worked as a photojournalist for local/community news.
Traveled to London and Salvador, Brazil, to photograph a documentary film about an international Brazilian drum band that comes together twice-yearly to play two of the world's largest street carnivals.
Teaches undergraduate students in American University's film department.

About the Naples Art Association: The Naples Art Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded in 1954. The goal of The Naples Art Association is to educate and promote visual arts in Southwest Florida through classes and exhibitions for adults and children. Today, the organization includes more than 1,000 members and operates The von Liebig Art Center, located at 585 Park Street in downtown Naples. The art center is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, please call 239-262-6517, visit http://naplesart.org, follow us at http://facebook.com/vonliebigartcenter or  on Twitter @vonliebigart.