The Friends of S.M.A.K. Prize is a national competition for artists with a budding professional career, organised by S.M.A.K. and its friends’ association, the Friends of S.M.A.K.
The initiative started exactly twenty years ago with Coming People, an annual exhibition featuring work by artists who had recently graduated from Ghent’s visual arts colleges. In 2014, they expanded it into a biennial, national competition and exhibition. With the Prize, S.M.A.K. and the Friends want to give visibility to the future generation and stimulate it to develop further.
The selection of the laureates for the new Friends of S.M.A.K. Prize took place in 2020. From the 112 portfolios submitted, the jury selected the work of three laureates: Jimena Chávez Delion, Mark Grootes and Angyvir Padilla.
Due to the restrictions as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition and award ceremony was postponed until 2021. The work of the three laureates is now being exhibited...from Saturday 26 June 2021. On Sunday 3 October, when the exhibition closes, the jury will choose the winner of the Friends of S.M.A.K. Prize based on the work presented. The award comprises 5,000 euros in cash and an invitation to create a solo exhibition for the Friends of S.M.A.K. room. The artist with the most preferential votes from the public will receive the public prize.
On the jury of the Friends of S.M.A.K. Prize 2020-2021 are Sébastien Delot (Director and Curator, Musée LaM, Lille), Anne Wetsi Mpoma (Researcher, Activist and Founder of the organisation Nouveau Système Artistique, Brussels), Eva Wittocx, Curator and Head of Contemporary Art Department, Museum M, Leuven), Philippe Leeman (Chairman Friends of S.M.A.K.), Adriënne van der Werf & Jef Declercq (Members and Curators, Young Friends of S.M.A.K.) and the S.M.A.K. artistic team.
The three laureates
Jimena Chávez Delion (b.1989, Lima) studied at ENSAV La Cambre, Brussels and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. Her recent sculptural and filmic work is inspired by the formal and material culture that arises in public places. This culture subsequently influences the identity of communities, the perception of values and the exchange of goods and contacts.
Mark Grootes (b.1991, Zaanstad) studied at KASK School of Arts, Ghent. In his multimedia work, he studies the relationship between humans and their environment. He often departs from specific places that exhibit a striking tension between nature and the cultivated landscape, between contemporary and historical architecture, or that notably deviate from expectations.
Angyvir Padilla (b.1987, Caracas) studied at the Académie royale des Beaux-Arts, ENSAV La Cambre and LUCA School of Arts in Brussels. She develops immersive installations and performances that integrate concepts such as belonging, migration and memory, which also relate to her homeland Venezuela. The artist explores the gaps between identity, materials and spaces and the emotions they evoke.
Entrada actualizada el el 06 oct de 2021
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