The Austrian state of Tyrol and the autonomous province of South Tyrol have announced that North Tyrolean artist Oliver Laric has been selected as the winner of the 2015 Paul Flora Prize.

According to a press release, the artist will accept the prize, worth €10,000 ($11,269), at a ceremony held in Glurns, South Tyrol, on Friday.

“It’s nice to be able to distinguish a young Tyrolean artist who has already developed his own distinctive position in the art world,” South Tyrolean culture minister Philipp Achammer said in a statement.

Oliver Laric Sun Tzu Janus (2012)
Photo: Tanya Leighton, Berlin

“Oliver Laric is an artist who impressed with the immediacy of his creative expression and whose work leaves a lasting impression on the memory,” the minister added.

The Berlin-based artist was born in Innsbruck and studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Laric has enjoyed successful solo exhibitions in Basel, Cambridge, Washington, Tel Aviv, and Berlin. He is also a recipient of the Ursula Blickle video prize of 2007.

Laric’s work focuses on the relationship between contemporary society, technology, and image culture. His broad body of work spanning a range of innovative mediums including video, 3D printed sculpture, and appropriated objects. Laric often uses new technologies and sophisticated methods of fabrication to produce works that blur the boundaries between the authentic and inauthentic.

Oliver Laric Versions (2012)
Photo: Tanya Leighton, Berlin

Explaining their decision, the jury said in a statement, “His work is characterized by an independent approach which demonstrates the hybridization of society to the viewer, and shows how to interpret knowledge and culture in the information age. With Oliver Laric we are honoring an artist who has come a remarkable way out of his own initiative.”

The prize has been awarded by the two counties annually since 2010 to recognize outstanding achievements of young Tyrolean and South Tyrolean contemporary artists. The prize was inaugurated in memory of the Austrian artist and illustrator Paul Flora, who died in 2009.

Last year’s prize went to South Tyrolean artist Gabriela Oberkofler.