Close But No Cigar

The FINALISTS for the 2011 Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize were announced yesterday, and I'm sorry to say that yours truly did not make that cut. The five fortunate finalists chosen from the forty-three-artist "short list" are:

Stephanie Barber: http://www.stephaniebarber.com/
Louie Palu: http://www.louiepalu.com
Mark Parascandola: http://www.parascandola.com/
Matthew Porterfield: http://www.msac.org/artist.cfm?ID=2884
Rachel Rotenberg: http://www.rachelrotenberg.com/

A very big congratulations to the finalists!

As for me, well, I grew up a Red Sox fan, so I'm well acquainted with the phrase, "There's always next year." C'est la vie! I'm happy my work will be back in MICA during ArtScape, so hopefully you'll see it when you pop inside in a desperate attempt to escape the blistering July heat.

It builds character!

Sondheim Award Semi-Finalist

The semi-finalists for the 2011 Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize were announced yesterday, and I am happy to say that I'm on the list.  I just wanted to be unrestricted by a 140 character limit in saying congratulations to the 42 other men and women on the list, and that it is an exciting and humbling honor to be named alongside so many great artists.  Can't wait to show my work back in MICA (or, if all the stars in the universe align, the BMA) this summer at Artscape!

Note: If only this were the actual trophy...

New Look & Real Life Website

Hey All, hope you like the new design of this portfolio blog. I thought it was a little more 2011.

Also, I now have my work up under my own domain.

http://www.josephletourneau.com

It's nearly complete, it just needs some more friends in the links section. If you're a buddy and have a website, let me know and I'll add you. And you all feel free to do the same.

All future work will be posted there as well as here, and everywhere else on the web I am (I just Googled, and it's a surprisingly large and chaotic net I've cast).

And you can follow me on Twitter, too! http://twitter.com/JoeZeitgeist

Return to Normalcy (When Life Gives You Lemons: Centralia, PA)

"Return to Normalcy (When Life Gives You Lemons: Centralia, PA)"

2010

Documentation of Performance

An afternoon selling lemonade in the abandoned town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, the site of an uncontrollable underground mine fire which has been burning since 1962.

Vimeo Videos

Update/Edit!

Videos will now be embedded on all previous works that are video-based.

If you're curious, head over to my new Vimeo page, it's full of magic and wonder.

http://vimeo.com/joeletourneau

MARATHON (Studio)

"MARATHON (Studio)"

2010

Documentation of Performance

26.2 miles

3,145 laps

9 hours, 20 minutes

An entire marathon walked in my studio at the Catwalk Art Residency in Catskill, NY.

MARATHON (Studio) from Joseph Letourneau on Vimeo.

MFA Thesis Installation

MFA Thesis Exhibition

Decker Gallery, Fox Building, MICA

Samson's Folly

"Samson's Folly"

2010

Installation and collection

Hairs lost as a result of male pattern baldness collected off of the artist's pillow case over the course of a year, stored individually in glass vials, and displayed in a custom-built room which allows the viewer to see the back of his or her own head.

Desperate Times

"Desperate Times"

2010

Installation based on performance

Video of a wishing well and a bucket of pennies.

Hope Springs Eternal

"Hope Springs Eternal"

2010

Video documentation of unseen performance

Eating the cheese and vegetables and drinking the wine at an unattended opening of a solo show of my work.

Hope Springs Eternal (full version) from Joseph Letourneau on Vimeo.