In its tenth year, Digital Graffiti, the projection art festival held in Alys Beach, announced ‘Liquid Love’ by Kameron Neal of Brooklyn, New York, as ‘Best of Show’.
The festival welcomed 21 artists from around the world to Northwest Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A to showcase original digital artwork on the stark white walls of Alys Beach’s homes.
“Overall the festival was a good mix of solid, energetic art,” said Brett Phares, curator of Digital Graffiti. “I was happy with the pace between works, each drawing onto the next.”
Curator’s Choice: Axel Cuevas Santamaria – “Protoplastmic Routes”
• Best of Show ($5,000 prize): Kameron Neal, Brooklyn, NY, “Liquid Love”
• Curator’s Choice ($2,000 prize): Axel Cuevas Santamaria, Columbus, OH/Mexico, “Protoplastmic Routes”
• Nowhere Mountain (aka Mark Regester and Dave Madden), St. Louis, MO/Salt Lake City, UT, “Flag”
• David Bennett, Nashville, TN, “STRAY VOLTAGE”
• Holger Foerterer, Karlsruhe, Germany, “Fluidum 2”
Holger Foerterer – “Fluidum 2”
“Digital Graffiti is a surreal opportunity for artists to use their voices and experiences to challenge the pure white architecture of Alys Beach,” Neal said.
“I’m honored to have participated in its 10th year and hope that Digital Graffiti can continue to foster artists’ growth for many more.”
In his pick for Curator’s Choice, Phares said, “I chose ‘Protoplasmic Routes’ for the iconic simplicity of a circle that sounds off with questions about life—both our experience of reality and the little we understand emerging artificially. You get it in a few seconds walking past it, and if you get hooked, there is so much more to consider.”
David Bennett – “STRAY VOLTAGE”
A panel of art and industry experts led by Phares served as the jury for the festival and selected the winners. The panel included Florida State University College of Communication research associate Lucia Fishburne, journalist Evan Narcisse, urban designer Mark Schnell, Christie senior solutions architect Roy Anthony, and New York-based mixed media artist Gabriel Barcia-Colombo.
In addition to the juried competition, a select group of artists who participated in this year’s Visiting Artist Residency were invited to create large-scale pieces at Digital Graffiti: Jinku Kim, Providence, RI; Krystal Schultheiss, who participated as an artist in Digital Graffiti in 2015, of Melbourne, Australia; and Robert Seidel of Berlin, Germany, who earned “Best of Show” in 2008, the first year of the festival.
