MIAMI, FLA.- Today
FAENA ART, the international nonprofit organization led by Ximena Caminos , announced Roger Hiorns (b.1975, Birmingham, United Kingdom; lives and works in London) as the winner of the 2016 Faena Prize for the Arts, a biennial international juried prize, which recognizes artistic experimentation, encourages post-disciplinary and temporal exploration, and promotes inquiry of the infinite links among art, technology and design. The 2016 edition called on artists or groups of artists from all over the world to develop proposals for original projects that engage with the concept of time and duration while also interacting with the monumental architecture of the Faena Art Center Buenos Aires in a significant way. This is the first prize awarded since FAENA ART has expanded to Miami, furthering its mission of being a transformative bridge across the Americas, encouraging a dialogue beyond geopolitical divisions, and placing Latin-American cultures in a broader international context.
Following the evaluation of more than 400 proposals from over 70 countries around the world, Roger Hiorns was selected as the 2016 winner by a jury of leading figures from the international art world. Coordinated by Ximena Caminos, the 2016 selection jury included Carlos Basualdo, Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Achim Borchardt-Hume, Director of Exhibitions at Tate Modern; Caroline Bourgeois, curator of the Pinault Collection; independent curator Jesús Fuenmayor; and Victoria Noorthoorn, Director of Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires.
Roger Hiorns was selected for ‘Untitled’ Values (working title), a proposal to reimagine existing works and create new works in Buenos Aires that merge sculpture, worldly objects and performance as a means of addressing the potential for human creation; and questioning our own temporality or what we as a society give towards the future. Drawing upon his previous work with youth, monumentality and decay, the artist proposes a continuation of this same line of investigation while adapting symbolic and iconic artefacts in the context of Buenos Aires and casting local performers.
Hiorns will receive the $75,000 USD prize, which includes $25,000 USD for the artist and a budget of up to $50,000 USD towards the production of ‘Untitled’ Values (working title), to be presented by the Faena Art Center Buenos Aires in 2017. The work may also be adapted for exhibition at Faena Forum in Miami Beach, which opens in November.
“So simply the work proposes the tense controlled atmosphere of naked youths, presenting their youthful ambiguity on highly selected objects of the present. I find it is important to put the human back at the centre of the artwork,” Hiorns commented. “This new work is a premonition of a new age contained in the extrapolation of the world trends as they are.”
These performative sculptures are sexually and physically charged. The naked youths address the present and the material in order to understand our own presence, time and physicality. Against these “objects of ‘distilled power’ is the physical manifestation of ‘youth’ itself.”
Ximena Caminos said of the winner, “Hiorns proposes a sculptural and performative installation that merges cultural practices across disciplines, which is directly in line with the mission of FAENA ART. This is the first edition of the prize that has gone to a British-born and based artist, and his first solo exhibition in Latin America. I believe it has the potential to generate interesting and relevant cultural exchange between the United Kingdom and Argentina.”
Alan Faena remarked, “We are proud to present the Faena Prize 2016, supporting the artistic creation and helping artists promote their work to an international audience. With the Faena Prize we are able to support artists in the realization of their dreams.”
The jury who voted unanimously to award Hiorns the prize, stated of his work, “Hiorns works with objects that seem deliberately intended to outlive us, calling for silence, introspection and reflection. The multi-layered temporalities of the sculptures and performances chosen for his proposed exhibition address the fragility of our bodies and lives. Hiorns' work is a thoughtful interpellation of monumentality that confronts the viewer as a contemporary witness of a specific social and cultural condition.”
Special mention awards were given to Public Movement, an Israeli performative research collective and Mercedes Azpilicueta (b. 1981, Argentina; lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands), who each will receive a $1,000 USD prize.
Proposals for the 2016 Faena Prize were submitted through an open call, and for the first time a Nominating Committee worked to amplify the reach and participation of applicants. Coordinated by curator Jesus Fuenmayor, the Nominating Committee included: curator Sonia Becce; Fernanda Brenner, Artistic Director PIVÔ, São Paulo; Rita González, curator LACMA, Los Angeles; Abdellah Karroum, Director Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Jessica Morgan, Director Dia Art Foundation, New York; Lucrecia Palacios, curator MALBA, Buenos Aires; Philippe Pirotte, Director Portikus and Biennale de Montréal 2016, and Franklin Sirmans, Director Pérez Art Museum Miami. The committee’s submissions were anonymous.
Previous Faena Prize winners are Cayetano Ferrer (2015), Fundación Vairoletto (2013), Martín Sastre (2012). Special mention awards have been granted to Nicolas Gullota (2015), Pablo Rasgado (2015), Santiago Sierra (2013), Sebastián Díaz Morales (2013), and Wilfredo Prieto (2012).
Cayetano Ferrer, the 2015 Faena Prize winner will present his prize-winning exhibition at the Faena Art Center Buenos Aires in February 2017. The exhibition will investigate industrial and decorative arts and the architectural connections between Los Angeles, Ferrer’s home city, and Buenos Aires. The exhibition will be curated by Jesús Fuenmayor.
