WINNERS ANNOUNCED - 10th Arte Laguna Prize

A record evening that confirms the Arte Laguna Prize as an extremely appealing event for the public, in a place with no equals in the world, the Arsenale of Venice. Thousands are the people who crowd up in the Nappe of the Arsenale of Venice, eager to discover the names of the winners of the contest's tenth edition and to enjoy an evening of art, admiring 120 works from 35 different countries.

The evening is also attended by the international jury chaired by Igor Zanti, curator and director of IED Venice, including: Miguel Amado (Portugal, Senior Curator at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in England), Anna Bernardini (Italy, Artistic Director of the Museum of Villa and Collezione Panza - FAI), Barbara Boninsegna (Italy, Artistic Director of Central Fies - environments for the production of performing art in Trento), Denis Curti (Italy, Artistic Director of Casa dei Tre Oci in Venice and of Capri Photography Festival), Enrico Fontanari (Italy, Urban Planner, Professor of Urban and Landscape Planning at IUAV University in Venice), Suad Garayeva (Azerbaijan, Curatorial Director of the exhibitions and the permanent collection of YARAT - space for contemporary arts), Vasili Tsereteli (Russia , Executive Director of MMOMA - Moscow Museum of Modern Art), Sabrina van der Ley (Norway, Director of the Contemporary Art department at Nasjonalmuseet Oslo), Simone Verde (Italy, Art Historian, scientific research and publications French agency France-Museums, in charge of the creation of the Louvre Abu Dhabi), Bettina von Dziembowski (Germany, Director of the Foundation Springhornhof & Art Association of Neuenkirchen).

The numerous international partners of the Prize are also present, from Swatch to TIM, from Thetis to the Berengo Foundation, as well as the representatives of Espronceda in Barcelona, OPEN in Venice, Basu Foundation in Kolkata, and gallery owners from Russia and Germany, just to name a few.

Tonight the 6 overall winners are announced, one for each category in the competition – painting, sculpture and installation, photographic art, video art and performance, virtual art, land art – each of them is awarded a cash prize of 7,000 euro, for a total of 42 thousand euro. More prizes are awarded by the International Partners, who have identified the artists with whom they will start a collaboration during 2016 for the organization of: 4 gallery exhibitions, participation in 3 festivals and collective exhibitions, the intervention in the production of 2 Italian companies, and finally the art residencies, featuring the creation of 10 new works during a stay in multicultural environments, in contact with other artists.

The winners for the 6 contest categories are:

PAINTING
Artist: Alexander Dashevskiy Saint Petersburg | Russia 1980
Work: Electrosila, 2015 | Oil on canvas, 160x110 cm
Jury's statement:

PHOTOGRAPHY
Artist: Thomas Friedrich Schäfer | Mainz, Germany 1983
Work: Experiential Space #2, 2014 Digital photography 120x90 cm
Jury's statement: For having staged a psychological atmosphere of strong emotional impact.
For gaving recreated a situation inspired in various fim and theare aesthetics, intelligently employing techniques of digital image. For the elegant composition, the fascinating use of light and the stylistic coherence, all of which make reference to the pictorial tradition.

SCULPTURE AND INSTALLATION
Artist: Farid Rasulov | Shusha, Azerbaijan 1985
Work: Europallet, 2015 | Wood, hand router carving, Europallets, 252x480x80 cm
Jury's statement: the work is very representative of the relationship between the traditional art in Azerbaijan and the new emerging researches in the contemporary art. There is a direct reference to the experiences of arte povera or minimal art mixed with a contemporary approach that renewed the concept of "traditional".

LAND ART
Artist: Elise Eeraerts | Mechelen, Belgium 1986
Work: Mäntsälä, 2008 | Earth sculpture
Jury's statement: for her ability to interpret the pure and original meaning of land art by communicating, with her work “Mäntsälä”, a direct relationship not only with the landscape, but also with the earth and nature. This is also expressed in the process of implementation of the work itself.

VIDEO ART AND PERFORMANCE
Artist: Ian Wolter | Billingham, United Kingdom 1966
Work: The Holy See Gets It, 2015 | Choir performance, A5 paper handouts
Jury's statement: for his ability to analyze and deal with a current social issue in an original and brilliant way. The performance "The Holy See Gets It" turns out to be a complete research work in every aspect: the music, the text, the critical use of a sacred element.

VIRTUAL AND DIGITAL ART
Artist: Nicola Maigret | Lons Le Saunier, France 1980
Work: The Pirate Cinema, 2013 | 3-channel HD real time video, 3-channel audio
Jury's statement: for his innovative use of technology which reveals the most common attitudes of people in the consumption and distribution of digital media, outlining a social portrait of Internet usage.

It will be possible to learn more about the works on view during the guided tour scheduled for Sunday, March 20th:: at 11:00 am at the Arsenale and, to follow, at 3:00 pm at the TIM Future Centre.

OPENING HOURS OF THE EXHIBITIONS
Nappe Arsenale: works from painting, sculpture, photography, video art and performance, land art
TIM Future Centre: works from virtual and digital art
from 20.03 to 03.04, daily, opening hours 10 am – 6 pm
Free entrance
Appointments:
20 March at 11:00 am, guided tour of the main exhibition - Nappe Arsenale
20 March at 3:00 pm, guided tour of the virtual and digital art exhibition – TIM Future Centre