TWO UK GALLERIES LAUNCHES LARGEST CONTEMPORARY ART PRIZE OF ALMOST $270 000
The UK is home to some of the most prominent contemporary art awards in the world, such as the Artes Mundi Prize and the Turner Prize. But now, owing to a new collaboration between the New York-based FLAG Art Foundation and London's Serpentine Galleries, the nation will also have one of the biggest.
The award, known as the Serpentine x FLAG Art Foundation Prize, will be given to an international artist every other year. The recipient will receive £200,000 (about $267,000) in addition to a solo exhibition, programming, and catalogue that both institutions will collaboratively organise. Over the following ten years, a total of £1 million (about $1.3 million) will be awarded every two years to five artists in the form of these £200,000 prizes. With eight times more financing than the Turner prize, which is worth £25,000 (about $33,200), the award is the biggest contemporary art prize in the United Kingdom.
Winners must have been showing professionally for less than ten years, regardless of their age or generation, and they may reside anywhere in the world. Additionally, artists need to be "actively working to grow and sustain a strong record of international museum and gallery exhibitions, including publications, grants, honours, awards, gallery representation, and art critic reviews." The prize will give artists the "freedom and time to develop a substantial new body of work, exhibit it, and explore new ideas," according to these eligibility requirements. A rotating committee of curators, art historians, and international artists will choose the winners through a nomination process.
According to Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of Serpentine, "the focus on artists who have not yet received the visibility or recognition they deserve is what makes this prize so significant." "This has long been at the heart of Serpentine's program: from showcasing the first monographic exhibitions for up-and-coming artists in the UK to supporting marginalised voices whose contributions deserve more recognition."
The transatlantic conversation between the art worlds of the United States and the United Kingdom is further enhanced by the Serpentine x FLAG Art Foundation Prize.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Bettina Korek, CEO of Serpentine, stated, "This partnership allows us to support artist practice on both sides of the Atlantic." "We can make a greater impact when we collaborate with other organisations."