This year, the Preis der Nationalgalerie (National Gallery Prize), Germany’s most prestigious contemporary art prize, has been awarded to artist Sandra Mujinga, who lives in Berlin and Oslo.
The jury chose Mujinga, born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, “after intense discussions,” they said at the award ceremony held Thursday at the Hamburger Bahnhof, a contemporary art museum in Berlin.
The artist’s work features ghostly figures made of interwoven lengths of fabric that appear to float through the exhibition spaces of the Hamburger Bahnhof. Mujinga shows “great sensitivity for the materials used,” said the jury.
From a “future past”
Mujinga succeeds in uniting contradictory experiences in his figures, argued the jury, creating “an opening that creates space for his own imagination”.
The jury for the German Contemporary Art Prize said the sculptures give the impression of being from a future past. “They remind us that we must be mindful of other creatures for our survival and that we can learn strategies from them to adapt to an ever-changing environment,” the jury wrote.
Mujinga’s works, described by the jury as “arrangements for transitory worlds”
Mujinga’s work, along with the work of the other nominees, is on display at Hamburger Bahnhof until February 27.
Personal exhibition next year
The prize has been awarded every two years since 2000 to contemporary artists under the age of 40 who reflect the internationality of the art scene in Germany.
There is no prize money, but since 2013, the winner’s works are presented in a solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof the following year.
The previous winners are Anne Imhof and Monica Bonvicini. The “recipients and nominees have since been among the defining protagonists of contemporary art,” says the award’s website.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Natascha Sadr Haghighian
Natascha Sadr Haghighian represented Germany at the Venice Biennale 2019. Shown here wearing a stone mask during a press conference ahead of the art exhibition, her name was Natascha Süder Happelmann for the event. The artist, a double participant in Documenta, often plays with the notion of identity. For example, she created a website that allows people to exchange parts of their CVs.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Anne Imhof
Anne Imhof became the star of the Venice Biennale 2017 with her performance “Faust” in the German pavilion, which won her the Golden Lion. The gigantic work dealt with the themes of power and helplessness, arbitrary violence, resistance and freedom. She was commissioned to recreate the piece at the Tate Modern Museum in London in March 2019.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Hito Steyerl
German-Japanese video artist Hito Steyerl represented Germany in 2015 at the Venice Biennale. She was the first woman to be ranked number one in ArtReview’s “Power 100”, the magazine’s list of the most powerful people in the art world. His influential work focuses on surveillance, military confrontation and corporate entanglement.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Rosemarie Trockel
Rosemarie Trockel became known through numerous international exhibitions. Her work often incorporates knitted fabrics or black electric hotplates dotting colored surfaces, a reference to stereotypical depictions of the housewife and an ironic homage to the stitches used by different Pop Art artists.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Katharina Fritsch
Designed to accommodate statues of historic British figures, Trafalgar Square in London has a plinth at each of its four corners. Since 1999, the fourth plinth has temporarily presented various works of art. German sculptor Katharina Fritsch’s giant blue rooster, “Hahn / Cock”, was on display there in 2013. The artist is renowned for her large-scale monochrome sculptures.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Isa Genzken
A 2013 retrospective of Isa Genzken’s work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City cemented the sculptor’s international reputation. She had previously participated in various art exhibitions including Documenta and Sculpture Projects Münster. His early works deal with the ideals of modern architecture; since the 2000s, she has been creating apocalyptic installations made of cheap materials.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Katharina Fat
Katharina Grosse quickly became known for her innovative work which opened up new dimensions to painting. The Berlin-based artist’s airbrush installations often immerse viewers in a chaotic space of color. His works are part of the collections of the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Kunsthaus in Zurich, among others.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Rebecca Horn
Rebecca Horn is a pioneering female artist in Germany: she was the first woman to become a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts in 1989, as well as the first to receive the prestigious Goslar Kaiser Ring Award in 1992. A year later, she also became the first female artist to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Alicja Kwade
Berlin artist Alicja Kwade was born in Poland. His installations often include stones, glass, chains, mirrors and clocks. A recent piece at the Berliner Galerie consisted of a huge clock swinging from the ceiling on a chain – a memorable, hypnotic work.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Katharina Sieverding
She was one of the first artists to create large format portraits openly featuring image manipulation. Sieverding received the Käthe Kollwitz Prize in 2017. His work questions the artistic, political and social conditions of the production and reception of art.
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11 renowned female artists based in Germany
Haegue Yang
The Seoul-born Berlin artist has organized exhibitions around the world. For her installations transforming everyday objects into surrealist associative works, she often uses materials from the hardware store or household items. During Documenta 13, she revealed Venetian blinds that moved by themselves, producing strange sounds. Haegue Yang’s plays are full of poetry and humor.
Author: Sabine Oelze (ex.)
This article was translated from German.
db / ex (dpa)
