Mamma Andersson: winner of the 2018 Drawing Prize

Created in 1996 to encourage and highlight the place of  drawing in contemporary art, the Daniel and Florence Guerlain Foundation’s Drawing Prize has greatly contributed to the recognition of this medium in the art world.

Three artists from the international scene were competing for the 11th edition of the Drawing Prize: Swedish artist Mamma Andersson, Japanese artist Leiko Ikemura and Dutch artist Juul Kraijer.

Assembled in Paris on March 22 2018, the jury has awarded the 2018 Drawing Prize to Mamma Andersson born in 1962 in Lulea, Sweden who lives and works in Stockholm.

The award ceremony took place on the same day in the Salon du Dessin which is hosting an exhibition of the three nominated artists until March 26. The winner receives a prize of 15,000 EUR, whilst the other two artists each receive an endowment of 5,000 EUR. A work by the winner will be offered to a French museum by the Daniel & Florence Guerlain Foundation.   

Mamma Anderson who studied at the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm is represented by the Galleries: Magnus Karlsson (Stockholm), Stephen Friedman (London), David Zwirner (New York and London).

“Mamma Andersson plays with the theatre and film world, which she deconstructs and recomposes over and over again, inspired by a host of images from art history or the press, then reworked in the manner of storyboards. She picks out numerous photos of landscapes or interior scenes, which are often mysterious and make reference to the history of Nordic painting. She also favours silhouettes, which remind her of those produced by the artist Kara Walker, or pictures of characters hiding behind masks. Mamma Andersson often works in series. Swathed in poetic pale tones, her images do not seek to be attractive. Obvious expressions are not part of her world and her creative process is not governed by a search for linear narrative. Her enigmatic viewpoints, which seem like momentary pauses, are ideal scenic spaces in which everyone may implant their own psyche.” Extract from the text by Marie Maertens.

First exhibition in 1985 at the Norrbottens Museum, Luleå. Today, her works feature in several museum collections: the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Broad Foundation (Santa Monica), the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas), the Museum of Modern Art (Stockholm), the Museum of Contemporary Art, the UCLA Hammer Museum (Los Angeles) and the MoMA (New York).

About the Daniel & Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation’s Drawing Prize
Created in 1996, the Daniel & Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation organized exhibitions in the family property for ten years, before Daniel and Florence Guerlain decided in 2006 to devote the Foundation’s activities to the Contemporary Drawing Prize.

First biennial then annual, the prize wishes to encourage and allow for the growth of contemporary drawing. Each year, it honours a winner from among the three artists selected by a committee of six experts: the two founders, Daniel and Florence Guerlain and four members chosen for their competence and interest in contemporary art.   

The Prize concerns artists for whom drawing on paper is a significant part of their work. The nominated artists can be of French or foreign nationality on condition that they reside in France or have a privileged cultural link through institutional exhibitions. All graphic means are accepted—crayon, charcoal, red chalk, ink, wash tint, gouache, watercolour, pastels and felt… including collages and wall drawings but excluding computer and mechanical processes.

The winner is chosen by a jury exclusively comprised of French and foreign collectors that is renewed each year. 

2018 Jury: Charles Asprey (United Kingdom), Patrice Boissonnas (France), Florence and Daniel Guerlain (France), Laure Kaltenbach (France), Dominique Levy (France), Barbara and Gaetano Maccaferri (Italy), Laurent Mueller (Germany), Stephen Reily (United States).

Past winners: Silvia Bächli, Switzerland (2007), Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Chile (2009), Catharina Van Eetvelde, Belgium (2010), Marcel Van Eeden, Netherlands (2011), Jorinde Voigt, Germany (2012), Susan Hefuna, Germany (2013), Tomasz Kowalski, Poland (2014), Jockum Nordström, Sweden (2015), Cameron Jamie, United States (2016), Ciprian Muresan, Romania (2017).

The Drawing Prize benefits from the generous support of: Artcurial, Axa Art, Finance Consultants, Guerlain, Neuflize OBC, Voisin Consulting Life Sciences, the Cercle des Amis de la Fondation d’art contemporain Daniel & Florence Guerlain, Le Salon du Dessin, Beaux-Arts de Paris, Champagne Taittinger, Château Seguin, Vodka Beluga.

Press contact: Agence ACC - T: +33 (0)6 10 19 36 31 / crabbecaroline [​at​] orange.fr