Hunting Prize Up to Its Old Shenanigans

Last year, you may recall that there were at least two artists who entered work for the Hunting Prize only to have the work disqualified at the last second. Now this wouldn't be such a big deal except for the shitty way Hunting did it. The artists had submitted the work digitally. It made it past the first round of judging. Then the work was mailed (at the artists' expense) to the Hunting Prize--at which point it was disqualified for not being two-dimensional. But there was also a feeling that the subject of the work might have been deemed too controversial. The rules state "Any artwork that includes the use of bodily fluids, degradation of religion or government, and/or depiction of sexual acts or any other medium, presentation or topic objectionable to Hunting PLC will be automatically disqualified.." Last year's disqualified works might have offended some sensitive soul.

So anyway, on to this year. Given what happened last year, I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of artists didn't submit work. Still, the $50,000 prize is worth trying for.

Now it appears that the same thing that happened to Joan Fabian and "Carlos" has happened to an artist named Devon Grey.



Like Fabian and Carlos last year, Grey was disqualified after he sent his piece in and without explanation.

So why might he have been disqualified? His piece appears to be a drawing, and as far as I can tell from the photo, it is not covered by glass. That's against one of their rules:

2-D Drawings must be created with traditional drawing medium(s) such as pencil, pen and ink and charcoal or a combination thereof and should be drawn on paper, panel or board and must be framed with glazing (glass or Plexiglas); no loose, exposed or unprotected paper works will be accepted.

But then again, it is a religious image--the last supper--populated by Lego men. Could that have been construed as offensive? And if so, why not tell him when he sent the digital image in?

Well, we don't know. The Hunting Prize people didn't tell Grey why he had been disqualified. Which is pretty shitty behavior on their part.

Has anyone else out there been disqualified? I'd love to hear from you. Also, if anyone from the Hunting Prize is reading, I would like to hear your side of the story, too. I promise a fair hearing and promise not to divulge anything anyone prefers not to have divulged.