UB's Jonathan Katz to Receive Major Award from U.S. Art Critics Association

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jonathan D. Katz, associate professor and director of the doctoral program in the University at Buffalo Department of Visual Studies, will receive the 2011 annual first prize award for Best National Museum Show from the U.S section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA/USA) in April 2 ceremonies at the Asia Society in New York City.

The AICA awards, which have been presented annually for 25 years, will be presented this year to 24 distinguished artists and curators in 12 categories in recognition of their excellence in the conception and realization of exhibitions.

Katz is being honored along with his co-curator, National Portrait Gallery historian David C. Ward, for "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture," the first major museum exhibition to focus on themes of gender and sexuality in modern American portraiture.

The critically acclaimed "Hide/Seek" opened in October 2010 at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., where it remained until February 2011. It then enjoyed a very successful run at the Brooklyn Museum before opening on March 17 at the Tacoma Art Museum, where it will remain through June 10.

The AICA wards will be presented this year by Lowery Sims, curator of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York; art critic and painter Peter Plagens; and installation, video and performance artist Sanford Biggers. This year's nominating committee comprises a distinguished panel of critics, art historians and curators: Eleanor Heartney, Marek Bartelik, Rebecca Cochran, Peter Frank, Francine Miller and Susan Snodgrass.