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Some 400 members of the U.S. chapter of AICA (the International Association of Art Critics) recently voted for their favorite exhibitions of the 2003-04 season. At the group's Jan. 25 ceremony, NYU professor Robert Rosenblum was honored for his distinguished contribution to the field of art criticism.

The award for best monographic show in a national museum went to the Lee Bontecou retrospective, jointly organized by the UCLA Hammer Museum and the Chicago MCA. "Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration," organized by the Blaffer Gallery at the University of Houston, came in second. In the category of best historical show, the Metropolitan Museum of Art took first and second place with, respectively, its El Greco exhibition and "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)." For best thematic show in the U.S., there was a tie between "Inverted Utopias: Avant-Garde Art in Latin America" at the Houston MFA, and "Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form, 1940s-70s" at the L.A. County Museum of Art. "A Minimal Future? Art as Object 1958-1968," organized by L.A. MOCA, was awarded second place in the category.

In New York venues, top honors for the best monographic museum show went to the Dieter Roth retrospective, co-organized by the Museum of Modern Art, the Schaulager Basel and Museum Ludwig, Cologne. The Whitney Museum's survey of Lucas Samaras's self-portraits took second. "Schoenberg, Kandinsky, and the Blue Rider" at the Jewish Museum was voted best thematic museum show in the city, with "Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China" at the International Center of Photography coming in second. "Vito Acconci: Diary of a Body 1969-1973" at Barbara Gladstone was named best show in a commercial gallery, followed by "Gordon Matta-Clark: Bingo" at David Zwirner.

Nationally, first place for best show in a commercial gallery went to "The Privilege of Solitude: Alfred Jensen and Forrest Bess" at the Nielsen Gallery, Boston, followed by L.A. Louver's "Terry Allen: Dugout I."

Janet Cardiff's "Her Long Black Hair," presented by the Public Art Fund in New York, was voted best show in an alternative or public space. Ann Hamilton's show at MASS MoCA placed second. "Ruhlmann: Genius of Art Deco," organized by the Metropolitan, the Montreal MFA and Le Musee des Annees 30, Boulogne-Billancourt, won for best architecture or design show. "Marjetica Potrc: Urgent Architecture" at the Palm Beach ICA came in second.

Top prize for the best exhibition of time-based art went to the Joan Jonas show at the Queens Museum of Art, while Rodney Graham's show at 303 Gallery placed second. Robert Lazzarini's show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was named best exhibition of digital art (no second place winner announced).

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