Max Mara Art Prize for Women Winner Announced

Laure Prouvost

Laure Prouvost secures the 10k Prize and residency in Italy

Laure Prouvost has won the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, organised in conjunction with the Whitechapel Gallery and the fashion brand Max Mara. The French artist who lives in London was chosen for the fourth iternation of this prestigious award, by a juding panel consisting of artist Lisa Milroy, Muriel Salem, a collector; the gallerist Amanda Wilkinson; and critic and lecturer Gilda Williams, chaired by Whitechapel Gallery director, Iwona Blazwick.

The shortlist of five artists,who included Spartacus Chetwynd, Christina Mackie, Avis Newman and Emily Wardill, will take a six-month residency in Italy and the resulting work exhibited both there and in the UK. The artist responded to the announcement, ‘Ideally these few words would express how pleased I am to win this award – it will be very interesting for me to work in another cultural environment and for the work to be challenged and grow out of this context. It will give me a really long period away from distractions to build on and develop new work. It is a real endorsement of what I do and I am very glad that the judges are supporting my practice’.

The Max Mara Art Prize for Women promotes and nurtures talent based in the United Kingdom, enabling artists to develop their potential and providing each winner with an opportunity to produce new works of art.The Prize is awarded biannually to one UK based artist who has not previously had a major survey exhibition.   Winners receive a fully funded six-month residency in Italy, based at the British School in Rome and the Pistoletto Foundation, Biella, as well as funding to realise a new work or works that will be exhibited at the Whitechapel Gallery and acquired by the Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy.

For each Prize a judging panel of four art-world professionals, chaired by Iwona Blazwick, devise a short-list of between three and five artists.  The short-listed artists are invited to the Whitechapel Gallery to make a presentation about their practice and the work or works they would make during or resultant from their Italian residency and funding. The inaugural Max Mara Art Prize [2005 – 2007] was won by film-maker Margaret Salmon and the second edition of the Prize [2007 – 2009] was won by Hannah Rickards who works with sound, video and installation.  Max Mara Art Prize for Women  2009- 2011

The jury for the third edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women was announced on 9 September 2009 at the Whitechapel Gallery on the occasion of the special opening of new film: No, there was no red. [2009] by Hannah Rickards.  Chaired by Iwona Blazwick, the new jury comprises; Fiona Banner, Turner Prize nominated artist; Alison Jacques, Gallerist; Valeria Napoleone, Collector and Polly Staple, writer and Director of Chisenhale Gallery. Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director Whitechapel Gallery and Chairwoman of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, has announced artist Andrea Buttner as the winner of the third Prize. Büttner, who lives and works in London and Frankfurt, was honoured at the prize giving ceremony at London’s Whitechapel Gallery on 23 March. Shortlisted artists Becky Beasley and Elizabeth Price were also in attendance.

The MaxMara Art Prize for Women in collaboration with the Whitechapel reflects the close relationship bonding Max Mara both with the worlds of women and of art.The biennal award is open to all forms of art and is aimed at nurturing and promoting emerging female artists based in the United Kingdom, presently considered the hub of the international art scene, providing an opportunity for them to develop their creative potential through the creation of a new work.

The Max Mara Art Prize for Women is organized by Iwona Blazwick, Whitechapel Director. A new, four-member jury is appointed for each prize and it includes an art critic/writer, an artist, a gallerist and a collector. The judges nominate five artists each from which a final shortlist of five is selected. Each short-listed candidate is commissioned to make a proposal for a project to be realised during a six-month residency in Italy with the resulting work to be acquired by the Maramotti Collection.

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