Fountain Street Gallery presents an international call for works that explore the art of language. Art assists in facilitating the exchange of ideas, opinions, and feelings. Whether we communicate through written, spoken, signed, or graphic means visual artists can behave as a gateway and/or interpreter. Language can be direct, subtle, or subliminal. Despite all the means of communication that we have, we're often left wondering if we're being understood or misunderstood. Or whether we're understanding clearly what's being communicated.

This call is an open question and asks artists to interpret it widely when selecting works to submit. We ask artists to think about the following: 

How has language evolved? Has human dependence on devices altered our ways of communicating? Is the original intent getting lost in translation? Is the emoji or meme of today expressing at a deeper level than iconography of the past?

This exhibit aims to address how the ways we communicate defines our world and our understanding of reality. Language doesn't necessarily need to be spoken or written (or signed), it can also be visual, or symbolic, a vernacular, a common vocabulary.

Juror Gabriel Sosa is a Cuban-American artist, educator, and linguist. He draws from legal proceedings, personal archives, and contemporary visual culture to explore the mutability of language, the imperfection of memory, and the misinterpretation of both. Raised in Miami and now based in Boston, Gabriel is a lecturer at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and the Deputy Director of the Essex Art Center in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Application Requirements

Artists can submit a maximum of 5 pieces and all work must be for sale. The entry fee of $36 covers 3 artwork submissions; up to 2 additional artworks may be submitted for $10 each (optional), for a maximum of 5 artworks total. Applicants will be notified of acceptance by December 19, 2021.

AWARDS
Three awards will be distributed: Jurors’ Choice (x1) and Honorable Mention (x2). All award winners will be included in a three-person award show in the Annex space of the gallery, a $450 value. The show will be curated by a Fountain Street Core Member. 
 

Size: 2D works must be no larger than 60” tall or wide. Diptychs/Triptychs are considered one entry and should be united as one image for viewing by our jurors. 3D works can be no larger than 60” tall and 24” deep, and should weigh no more than 75 lbs. 

Three-dimensional installation work is encouraged. The artist may be asked to provide pedestals, if needed. If installation artwork is chosen by the juror the artist must be available during install dates  Monday–Tuesday, February 14–15, 2022.

Accepted video or interactive submissions must be shown online in their full length. If the spoken language in the video is not English, please provide a translated transcription. If work is accepted, artist may be required to provide necessary display and viewing equipment, including, but not limited to: tv/display monitor, media player, USB drive, mounting hardware, remote controls, batteries.

Eligibility Criteria

This exhibition is open to everyone. The only limitation is that entries must represent original works created in the past three years, which address the theme in some considerable way. This call is open to any and all media, traditional and nontraditional; two-dimensional, three dimensional and video artwork is accepted.