Lynette Yiadom-Boakye received the Main Prize of the Future Generation Art Prize 2012

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, a British artist, is the Main Prize Winner of the second edition of the Future Generation Art Prize. Lynette will receive a 100,000 USD award; 60,000 USD in cash and 40,000 USD to be invested in the production of new work.

The winner of the Main Prize was selected and announced by the international jury consisting of Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (Germany), Agnaldo Farias (Brasil), Massimiliano Gioni (United States), Carol Yinghua Lu (China), Hans Ulrich Obrist (United Kingdom), Eckhard Schneider (Ukraine), and Nancy Spector (United States) at the Award Ceremony in Kiev, Ukraine, on Friday, December 7, 2012.

Nominated artists including winners will also take part at the Future Generation Art Prize @ Venice group exhibition organized by the PinchukArtCentre as the collateral event of the Biennale di Venezia in 2013. And Lynette Yiadom-Boakye as the Main Prize Winner will present her solo show in the PinchukArtCentre in Kiev the next autumn.

Awarding Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, jurors said: “The jury has awarded the Main Prize to Lynette Yiadom-Boakye for her extraordinary paintings where darkness and light are articulated together, recognizing the quality of the paintings and the social concerns that emerge from them. Furthermore, the jury awards the prize for her complex practice, which extends far beyond painting. Indeed, she is also active in literature as a writer of short stories and is currently working on a novel. She creates one canvas per day and if not completed by the end of the day, the painting is discarded. Therefore, there is no nocturnal rethinking, no pentimenti possible in her activity. Her works are organized around groups of paintings that generally portray imaginary black characters in abstract landscapes. Her paintings do not emerge from a photographic imaginary but from the memory of figuration in the history of painting, including realism with social consciousness and expressionism. Her works thus do not focus on the unique artwork but provide a viewing experience based on a different temporality, and on the recognition of recurring motifs, figures and moods.”

Jonathas de Andrade (Brazil), Micol Assael (Italy), Ahmet Ögüt (Turkey), Rayyane Tabet (Lebanon), and Marwa Arsanios (Lebanon) shared the Special Prize according to the decision of the Jury.

The initial amount of 20,000 USD to fund artist-in-residency programs supporting their further development will be increased considering the number or artists who received the Special Prize in 2012. Victor Pinchuk, the founder of the Future Generation Art Prize mentioned it in his speech at the ceremony.

Addressing the young artists, Victor Pinchuk also added: “Today, again, the future begins. I can see that a new generation is full of ideas, feelings and infectious inventiveness. This is a new growing global network uniting the smartest, most talented representatives of the next generation – artists who have the duty to open new perceptions to humankind. And probably this is your biggest prize, to be part of this group.”

The exhibition of shortlisted artists for the Future Generation Art Prize is currently on show at the PinchukArtCentre and presents newly produced works by the following artists and groups: Jonathas de Andrade, 30 (Brazil); Meris Angioletti, 34 (Italy); Marwa Arsanios, 33 (Lebanon); Micol Assael, 33 (Italy); Abigail DeVille, 30 (United States); Aurelien Froment, 35 (France); Mykyta Kadan, 29 (Ukraine); Meiro Koizumi, 35 (Japan); Andre Komatsu, 33 (Brazil); Eva Kotatkova, 29 (Czech Republic); Tala Madani, 30 (Iran); Basim Magdy, 34 (Egypt); Ahmet Ögüt, 30 (Turkey); Amalia Pica, 33 (Argentina); Agnieszka Polska, 27 (Poland); Emily Roysdon, 34 (United States); Rayyane Tabet, 28 (Lebanon); Yan Xing, 26 (China); Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, 34 (United Kingdom); and two groups: Joao Maria Gusmao + Pedro Paiva, 33, 34 (Portugal); and R.E.P. (Ukraine).

Shortlisted artists represent 16 different countries. They have been selected from more than 4,000 applications received from 134 countries spread across all continents.

The images and the video of the ceremony will be available at pinchukartcentre.org.