The 6 overall winners of the 11th Arte Laguna Prize

There are also artists from Lithuania, New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Japan, Israel, Canada, Russia, Colombia, Taiwan, India and Serbia.

During the evening the 5 finalist performances were staged live - Eleana Alexandrou, Fred Farrow, Yixiao Shao, Eliza Soroga, Amy Steel - and more than 30 prizes were awarded: the 6 overall winners who win a prize of 7,000 Euro each, 12 winners of the international residency program, 6 artists who win a gallery exhibition, 12 winners of festivals and group exhibitions, 9 winners of collaborations with companies and prize money.

The jury that selected them - chaired by Igor Zanti, IED director and curator - includes preeminent names in the international art scene: Flavio Arensi (Italy, Art Critic), Tamara Chalabi (Iraq, Chair and Co-Founder of the Ruya Foundation), Paolo Colombo (Italy, Art Advisor for the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art), Suad Garayeva (Azerbaijan, Curatorial Director of YARAT Contemporary Art Centre's exhibitions and permanent collection), Ilaria Gianni (Italy, Curator and Art Critic), Nav Haq (Belgium, Senior Curator at M HKA – Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp), Emanuele Montibeller (Italy, Artistic Director of Arte Sella in Trentino), Salvador Nadales (Spain, Curator at the National Museum Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid), Fatos Ustek (United Kingdom, Independent Curator and Writer), Alma Zevi (Italy, Curator and Writer).

The 6 overall winners are:

PAINTING SECTION
Winner Artist: Elías Peña Salvador | Madrid, Spain 1992
Work: Argos, 2016, Oil on canvas
Jury's statement: For the idea of painting as a representation of a space in which life is presented in its poetic and existential dynamics and for the narrative quality expressed by the use of the color-image, so in tune with the oldest tradition as with the latest contemporary research.

PHOTOGRAPHIC ART SECTION
Winner Artist: María Gabriela Chirinos | Caracas, Venezuela 1964
Work: Waiting, 2016, Digital photography
Jury's statement: For the theme linked to the issue of aging, for the conscious and refined narrative approach, for the technical and aesthetic solutions that define the poetics of the work, the jury decided to award for the photography section María Gabriela Chirinos.

SCULPTURE AND INSTALLATION SECTION
Winner Artist: Elena Bertuzzi & Laure Chatrefou Biella, Italy 1959 & Tours, France 1983
Work: Le labyrinthe du Debaa, 2015, Projections on a cube of transparent veils
Jury's statement: For the outstanding elaboration of a tradition, and for its force to bring out the complex fusion of rituals, set forward in a delicate setting inviting audiences to unveil the depths of human knowledge.

LAND ART SECTION con il supporto di Pentagram Stiftung
Winner Artist: Branko Stanojevi? & Milena Strahinovi? | Serbia 1983 & 1984
Work: Border, 2014, Monument made of mirrors and steel substructure
Jury's statement: For the interesting connection it establishes with the territory, highlighting the difficult and troublesome relationship between human urbanization and the surrounding territory, verging on themes that are increasingly relevant, given the rise in the world population.

VIDEO ART AND PERFORMANCE SECTION
Winner Artist: Eliza Soroga Athens | Greece 1988
Work: Women in Agony, 2015, Performance in public space
Jury's statement: For the performance and video art section the jury selected the winner for the interesting theme of the work that focuses on the sometimes dramatic relationship of human beings today and the consumer society they live in.

VIRTUAL ART AND DIGITAL GRAPHICS SECTION
Winner Artist: Hill Kobayashi | Japan 1977
Work: Radioactive Live Soundscape, 2016, Satellite communications based live microphone in radioactive area
Jury's statement: The jury selected the winner for the compelling use of new technologies applied to the study and definition of nature-related phenomena. In particular the artist’s work addresses the dramatic issue of an ecological disaster.

The exhibition is open free of charge through Sunday, April 9, every day from 10am to 6pm; you can also learn more about the works on view during the guided tour scheduled for Sunday, March 26: at 11am at the Arsenale, and to follow at 3pm at the TIM Future Centre. Other days guided tours are available by appointment.
 

www.artelagunaprize.com

EXHIBITION DETAILS
Venue: Nappe Arsenale, Venice
Dates: 26 March - 9 April 2017
Hours: every day, h. 10am-6pm
Opening and Awards ceremony: Saturday 25 March, h. 6pm
Entrance: free

EVENTS CALENDAR
Sunday March 26, 2017
h. 11am Guided tour to the Exhibition with curator Igor Zanti (Nappe Arsenale)
h. 3pm Guided tour to the Virtual art and digital graphics section with Igor Zanti (TIM Future Centre)
Guided tours other days on appointment, please call +39 0415937242 ext.4
 

Exhibition of finalists and winners
125 artworks
Nappe dell'Arsenale an TIM Future Centre, Venice
26 March – 9 April 2017 open 10am -6pm daily

Guided tours: Sunday, March 26
- h. 11am Nappe Arsenale
- h.3pm TIM Future Centre - virtual art and digital graphics section