Finalists in Absolut Art Award Include Anne Imhof and Anicka Yi

Judges picked six rather than five artists as they felt the quality was so high.

Anicka Yi. Courtesy of the artist

The Absolut Art Award has announced its finalists for 2017 in both the art and writing sections, with more artists making it to this phase of the biennial award than usual.

The prize is judged by a panel headed by the jury president, Moderna Museet’s Daniel Birnbaum, and includes the Chisenhale’s Polly Staple; Elena Filipovic of Kunsthalle Basel; Simon Castets, Director and Curator of Swiss Institute, New York; and writer Jack Bankowsky.

Anne Imhof .© Photo Nadine Fraczkowski

Anne Imhof ©Photo Nadine Fraczkowski

“Working with this year’s jury has been a rare adventure,” Birnbaum said in a statement. “It was a difficult decision, and in the end we selected six finalists rather than five in the art work category as we felt strongly that all six deserved the opportunity to submit proposals for their dream project.”

The six finalists are Anne Imhof, Simon Denny, Shahryar Nashat, Cameron Rowland, Anicka Yi, and Samson Young. The winner will be awarded €20,000 as a cash prize and €100,000 to create a work.

The winning writer, selected from finalists Huey Copeland, Johanna Fateman, Orit Gat, Isabelle Graw, and Shanay Jhaveri, will be awarded €20,000 as a cash prize and €25,000 with which to create a publication.

Each of the 11 finalists must now pitch their proposal to the impressive judging panel for consideration before the winners are announced on May 12 during the opening events for the 57th Venice Biennale. An award ceremony will take place in September, in Stockholm.

The winners of the Absolut Art Award for Art Work and Art Writing will be announced alongside the first ever Emerging Artist Award, a new category launched this year.


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