NATIONAL ACADEMY NAMES ARTISTS INCLUDING CINDY SHERMAN AND BRUCE NAUMAN ACADEMICIANS

Robert Gober, Steven Holl, Bruce Nauman, and Cindy Sherman are among the twenty-three artists and architects who have been elected as 2012 academicians to the National Academy. The appointment recognizes each for his or her contribution to American art and architecture. 2012 nominees notably included artists working with video, photography, and installation—practices that have never before been represented. A press release posted on Artdaily states that academicians voted in 2011 to revise the traditional categories of membership that included “painting, sculpture, printmaking, and architecture” to “visual arts and architecture.” Said Robert Hobbs, chair of art history at Virginia Commonwealth University and honorary master of ceremonies for the fall induction ceremony: “The roster of newly elected members reads like a ‘who’s-who’ of the past few decades. By introducing the categories of photography as well as video and performance art, the National Academy signals a remarkable ability to rethink its 187-year-old premises, while continuing its mandate to recognize some of the most trenchant and thoughtful living American artists.”