September 1 in Berlin, Winner Francis Alys
blueOrange 2004 Award
blueOrange 2004 Award, September 1 in Berlin, Winner Francis Alys
Prize-giving and opening of the exhibition:
1st September 2004, 18:00, Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin
blueOrange, the art prize of the German Cooperative Banking, “Deutsche Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken”-Group, is one of the biggest prizes for fine arts in Germany, with 77.000 Euro of prize-money. Of this, 7,000 Euro is awarded to an up-and-coming artist, who is selected by the main prize-winner.
The philosophy of the prize consists of the honouring of an artist whose work both renders a contribution to the deepening of aesthetic discourse as well as showing an anticipation of developments in society.
At the first meeting of the jury, on the 29th September to the 1st October 2003 in Berlin, the following shortlist of seven artists was selected:
-Eija-Liisa Ahtila
-Francis Alys
-Rodney Graham
-Teresa Margolles
-Paul Pfeiffer
-Santiago Sierra
-Rirkrit Tiravanija
In the second part of the process, the prize-winner was chosen by the final jury, consisting of one representative each of the prize-givers (Federal Association of German Cooperative Banks) and the project partners (Berliner Festspiele and the ZDF television company).
Francis Alys, born in Antwerp/Belgium in 1959, is the first winner of the well endowed blueOrange Art prize, sponsored by the “Deutsche Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken” Group. His permanent concern is public space. The concept artist who resides in Mexico City avoids leaving behind expansive sculptures or installations. He parades a block of ice through town, until it’s molten away; he runs through the streets with a weapon until he is arrested by the police. Or, equally strange, he walks about his magnet dog, attracting all sorts of junk in the process. Or he releases beautiful peacocks, as on the Biennale in Venice, who run into and comment on the vain exuberance of the art scene.
Francis Alys, has nominated the group of artists Tercerunquinto as winners of the promotion prize and will hand over 7,000 Euro of his prize money to the young stars.
Exhibition: 2. September – 18. October 2004
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Niederkirchnerstrasse 7
10963 Berlin
Opening hours: daily 10:00-20:00 (closed on Tuesdays)
Curator:
Klaus Biesenbach,
Artistic Director KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin,
Chief Curator P.S.1/MoMA, New York;
Catalogue: blueOrange 2004 – Francis Alys. Texts by Francis Alys, Hubert Beck, Klaus Biesenbach, Christopher Pfleister. German/English, Verlag Walther Konig 2004.
Press pack and photographic material from www.blueorange.bvr.de or to order as a CD-ROM and/or DVD (E-mail: blueorange@bvr.de).
Press conference on the prize-giving and opening of the exhibition:
1st September 2004, 11:00, in the conference hall of the Martin-Gropius Building, Berlin