Bogotá
Colombia
The Julius Baer Art Prize for Latin American Female Artists is a biennial award initiated by Julius Baer and the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art – MAMBO. The mission of the Julius Baer Art Prize is to honour the work of Latin American female artists for their innovation, research, and influence in contemporary art. This is the first prize of its kind held in Latin America and is by invitation only, open to every media, and without age limit.
The jury for the second edition includes Diana Wechsler—Artistic Director for the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of the South (BIENALSUR); Giuliana Vidarte, Head of Curation and Exhibitions at the Lima Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC); Lucía Sanromán, Director of the Laboratorio de Arte Alameda; Barbara Staubli, Curator of the Julius Baer Art Collection; and Eugenio Viola, Chief Curator at MAMBO.
The five jury members proposed an initial list of 25 artists from Latin America and the Caribbean. Among those shortlisted, five artists were selected during the voting meeting in which their artistic innovation and trajectory are crossed with other expert criteria. The following five finalists have been invited to present a site-specific project: Mónica Mayer (Mexico, 1954); Ana Gallardo (Argentina, 1958); Renata Lucas (Brazil, 1971); Sol Calero (Venezuela, 1982); and Ximena Garrido-Lecca (Peru, 1980).
The winner will receive a cash prize to produce a new site-specific project, which will open at MAMBO in July 2023.
This new edition of the prize reflects on various themes, such as Latin American art and the features that distinguish it from other artistic currents in the world. Likewise, it focuses on the contributions of Latin American women to contemporary art and promotes the visibility of women artists in Latin America. It also offers a vision of the discourses, concepts, and recurrent concerns of the artists from the region. Finally, it is an innovative way of addressing the intersection between gender, nationalities, and territorialities that permeate cultural and artistic productions, all within the framework of contexts historically situated in certain national realities.
“We are particularly proud to partner with Julius Baer to promote the first and only visual arts award for women artists in Latin America. With this award, MAMBO confirms its commitment to promoting female artistic production and consolidating the social space of Latin American female creators. The finalists of this edition, through their committed works, represent the urgency and need not only of Latin America, but of the contemporary world, reminding us, once again, that art is always on the side of coexistence in the midst of the differences," says Eugenio Viola, Chief Curator at MAMBO and a member of the jury.
“For more than 40 years, Julius Baer has been collecting Swiss contemporary art. We are pleased to extend our long tradition of supporting the visual arts with the Julius Baer Art Prize for Latin American Female Artists. In partnership with the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art – MAMBO, we are giving visibility to the diverse cultural landscape and artistic practice in Latin America. The shortlisted artists convince with their unique, pioneering approach and we are looking forward to their site-specific proposals for an exhibition at MAMBO in 2023,” states Barbara Staubli, Curator of the Julius Baer Art Collection.
The award winner of the inaugural edition of the prize, Chilean artist Voluspa Jarpa (Rancagua, 1971) and her project Sindemia, portrayed a necessary memory of the social unrest that occurred in both Chile and Colombia in late 2019. Her project provided a multifaceted approach to the urgency for documentation and visibility of human rights violations during the protests. Sindemia will tour at the MUNTREF, Center of Contemporary Art (Hotel of Immigrants), Buenos Aires in October 2022, and at the Gabriela Mistral Center (GAM) in Santiago on March 1, 2023.
For press enquiries: Julius Baer, media.relations@juliusbaer.com / MAMBO, susana.vargas@mambogota.com
