National Sculpture Society will present the 2017 Dexter Jones Award to Jiannan Wu for his work New York New York. The award, an unrestricted prize of $5,000, is presented to a sculptor for an outstanding work of sculpture in bas-relief.  It is expressly for sculptors between the ages of 18-39 and is funded by an endowment in memory of Dexter Jones, past Fellow of National Sculpture Society.

New York New York reflects both Wu’s native culture and his American influences. In the piece, Wu “exhibits an exuberance for New York and its intrinsic vitality as well as an exceptionally imaginative interpretation of the art of relief sculpture,” states Jim Licaretz, who retired in 2016 from his position as a sculptor-engraver at the U.S. Mint.  Sculptor Lindley Briggs and George Cuhaj, owner of Goodson Consignments and writer and curator specializing in medallic work, joined Licaretz as the jury of selection for the award.

In 2014, Wu moved to New York City from China to study at the New York Academy of Art, earning an MFA in Sculpture in 2016.  Wu has shown in New York City at First Street Gallery’s 2016 MFA National Competition, which is geared toward recent MFA graduates, and at Flowers Gallery.  The U.S. based Chinese language television network, SinoVision, interviewed Wu about his sculpture in January 2016.  He participated in the 2016 ABC Stone Carrara Merit Award Residency in Italy and the Terra Foundation Residency in Giverny, France.

National Sculpture Society will present the award on Saturday, June 24, 2017 at the Honors and Awards Dinner, part of the Sculpture Celebration Conference held this year in New York City.