ars viva 2014/15

The Hamburger Kunsthalle presents the winners of the prestigious ars viva Prize 2014/15: Aleksandra Domanović (b. 1981 in Novi Sad, Serbia), Yngve Holen (b. 1982 in Braunschweig, Germany) and James Richards (b. 1983 in Cardiff, Wales).

The ars viva Prize, which has been presented by the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI (Association of Arts and Culture of the Germany Economy at the Federation of German Industries) every year since 1953, is awarded to young visual artists who live and work in Germany. Previous winners include Marina Abramović & Ulay, Katharina Sieverding, Rosemarie Trockel, Candida Höfer, Thomas Struth, Anna Oppermann, Jeanne Faust, Thomas Demand and Omer Fast. The ars viva Prize consists of an award of €5,000 to each selected artist as well as a series of exhibitions, a bilingual catalogue publication and the opportunity to create limited edition artworks.

Aleksandra Domanović was born in Serbia and now lives in Berlin. Her video works, sculptures and prints explore how historical and cultural events related to the former Yugoslavia shape individual and collective identity. The use of digital media content, which Domanović quotes, archives and recontextualises, is a key element of her practice.

The art of Yngve Holen, who was born in Braunschweig and is currently based in Berlin, is characterised by the appropriation of advanced modern technologies. His sculptural and architectural works aim to alter our view of our everyday surroundings. Welsh-born artist James Richards, who also lives and works in Berlin, creates video installations by combining his own footage with film clips from a wide variety of archival and other sources, accompanied by a self-produced soundtrack. Playing with a visual language that is at once familiar and strange is the primary focus of Richards' artistic endeavours, whereby his sound compositions serve as a unifying element. Richards is nominated for the Turner Prize in 2014.

This year's jury was chaired by Ulrich Sauerwein and consisted of seven members of the Kulturkreis Fine Arts Committee, curators Dr Brigitte Kölle (Hamburger Kunsthalle), Christina Végh (Bonner Kunstverein) and Krist Gruijthuijsen (Grazer Kunstverein), along with Susanne Pfeffer (Fridericianum Kassel) as an expert advisor.

The ars viva 2014/2015 exhibition opens at the Hamburger Kunsthalle and will subsequently travel to the Bonner Kunstverein (7 March - 17 May 2015) and the Grazer Kunstverein (13 June - 2 August 2015). All three institutions will present a selection of existing and new works created by the award-winning artists especially for the exhibition.

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