International call: SpallArt Prize Salzburg 2020

The Salzburger Kunstverein announces the SpallArt Prize Salzburg. This international award for excellence in contemporary art is a rotating prize. For the years 2019 to 2021, the focus will be on contemporary photography. The inaugural winner in 2019 is Pierre Descamps (France/Germany).

Sponsored by SpallArt, the SpallArt Prize Salzburg consists of EUR 4,000 and a residency at the Salzburger Kunstverein.

Applicants must be practicing artists who work with photography and who have a significant professional practice (ie. exhibitions in contemporary art institutions). Applications must be accompanied by a recommendation from a recognized art professional (professors, artists, art critics or curators / directors of museums, galleries, Kunstverein, or other public art institutions). A one page recommendation form and all application material may be found on the website.

Applications without recommendations will not be reviewed. The present jury is Karin Peyker (artist-photographer, Board Member, Salzburger Kunstverein), Adrian Paci (artist, Italy/Albania), and Christiane Kuhlmann (Curator, Photography/Media Art, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg).

The winning candidate will be offered a one month residency at the Salzburger Kunstverein in 2020 as well as the EUR 4,000 prize. A limited edition of an agreed photograph will be provided to the Salzburger Kunstverein by the successful artist (costs borne by the SKV).

Deadline for submissions: September 30, midnight Central European Time, 2019. Only the successful candidate will be contacted.

Applications (in German or English) should include as a single word or pdf document  (please do not send multiple documents nor exceed the below criteria) by email to info@salzburger-kunstverein.at (subject line: SpallArt Prize Salzburg 2020) in the following format:

1. One page cover letter with contact details and any short description of artwork
2. Two page CV listing exhibitions
3. Portfolio: Up to five pages of images of recent work. 1 or 2 photos per page recommended. Titles, medium, dates included. Choose your best work. A sample page is available here.
4. Completed recommendation form (may be sent separately by either party, and does not need to be combined into a single document as above material)

By Post:
SpallArt Prize Salzburg 2020
Salzburger Kunstverein
Hellbrunnerstrasse 3
5020 Salzburg
Austria

Queries may be directed to the addresses above. Please note that materials will not be returned. Please do not send original materials, DVDs, CDs or .mov files. Only word or pdf documents or printed materials will be reviewed. Please use the available recommendation form.

Sponsor: Sammlung SpallArt
Administered by the Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria
Director: Séamus Kealy

About SpallArt
The private art collection SpallArt arose from Andra Spallart’s enthusiasm for the diversity of possibilities that photography uses to obstruct, deny and challenge our perception. Andra Spallart first acquired contemporary photography and video in the end1980s. The collection commenced with a focus on contemporary Austrian photography and has broadened to a European and international focus. Since 2011, the collection has increased its presence in the public eye through various publications and exhibitions; for example, Andra Spallart has presented curated exhibitions at the Foto-Raum in Vienna. After moving to Salzburg the collection thrives to this day. Temporary pop-up exhibitions at the Foto-Raum’s depot are shown under the title “Open Space,” regularly conveying a sense of the collection’s breadth of photographic themes. The entire collection is also presented online.

About the Salzburger Kunstverein 
The SpallArt Prize Salzburg is administered by the Salzburger Kunstverein. Founded in 1844, the Salzburger Kunstverein is a long-running and leading contemporary art organisation specialising in contemporary art. It is located is Salzburg, Austria, and is housed in the Künstlerhaus, built in 1885. The Salzburger Kunstverein organises about twelve exhibitions of international and Austrian artists annually, and generates discourse and other relevant programming through its lectures, residencies and screening programs. The Director since January 2014 is Séamus Kealy.

About Pierre Descamps
Pierre Descamps (*1975, Amiens) grew up in a small industrial town in the north east of France, stucked between forests and ghettos. After trying the Faculty of Arts in Strasbourg and getting a vocational training in plastics processing in Lyon, he studied and got a master of art at the Villa Arson in Nice. He then moved to Berlin where he still works and lives. Besides his own work, he works as a freelance conservator for international galleries, a job that gives him an inside look at the art market today.