The Gemeentemuseum The Hague presents work by the five artists shortlisted for the Vincent Award in an exhibition entitled The Vincent Award 2014. The purpose of the award is ‘to spur on a mid-career artist whose work is appreciably influencing the development of contemporary art in Europe’. A jury for the award has short-listed five artists for the prize; these are: Pierre Huyghe, Manfred Pernice, Willem de Rooij, Anri Sala, and Gillian Wearing. Work by these artists is seldom seen in the Netherlands, but will now be on show at the GEM, Museum of Contemporary Art.
On the 21st November the Gemeentemuseum will reveal at an award ceremony whether Pierre Huyghe (France), Manfred Pernice (Germany), Willem de Rooij (the Netherlands), Anri Sala (Albania/France) or Gillian Wearing (United Kingdom) has won the Vincent Award. Prior to this announcement, an exhibition of the artist’s work will be on show at the GEM, Museum of Contemporary Art, until 1st February 2015. The candidates’ oeuvre is highly diverse, showing that even in a globalised society, European artists have lost nothing of their vigour or influence. Never before has work by these artists been brought together on show in the Netherlands.
The exhibition will include both existing, and new work. Willem de Rooij will be creating a new installation. This work is inspired by one of the Mondrians in the Gemeentemuseum’s permanent collection. Manfred Pernice will be showing his sculptural work, and Pierre Huyghe one of his most recent films. Anri Sala will be designing a new installation of existing video works, alongside a film – and highlights of her photographic body of work, Gillian Wearing will be presenting a new photo work created in this year.
The Vincent Award was founded in 2000 by the Broere Foundation in memory of Monique Zajfen. It was her commitment to and passion for contemporary art that inspired the award as a spur to European artists of great talent. The Vincent Award is intended both to encourage European talent and to promote communication in a free, united and peaceful Europe. The winner of the prize receives a sum of over £40,000.
This year, the Gemeentemuseum will be hosting the award ceremony for the first time. The collaboration between the Broere Foundation and the Gemeentemuseum will continue until 2020, and will entail the Monique Zajfen Collection being on long-term loan to the Gemeentemuseum.
The Monique Zajfen Collection is one of the most significant private collections of contemporary art in the Netherlands, featuring works by three previous winners of the Vincent Award – Pawel Althamer, Neo Rauch and Wilhelm Sasnal – as well as artists like Marlene Dumas, Luc Tuymans, Thomas Schütte and Stephan Balkenhol.