The German city of Speyer announces that Düsseldorf- and London-based artist Kristina Buch has been awarded its Grand Hans Purrmann Award. The prize awarded includes an endowment of USD 22,600 as well as an individual catalogue publication. The jury lauded Kristina Buch’s work in particular for generating unexpected and meaningful dialogues between the natural, cultural and social sciences.
“Kristina Buch’s work stands out for its ability to negotiate complex themes in a poetic manner. Language, symbols, images and materials dissociate and disintegrate before being brought together in unexpected forms, helping us to renegotiate what we think we understand, and to create entirely new ways of reading and of knowing.” -Hans Purrmann Foundation
The jury members were particularly impressed by her work “One of the things that baffles me about you is that you remain unmurdered.” Created between 2012 and 2016, Buch’s subtly constructed installation negotiates the fine line between murder and censorship.
“As an artist whose practice employs myriad reference points—from entomology to theology to the history of technology—Buch is a unique voice in contemporary art, continually pushing the boundaries of our collective ontology with work that is precise in its concerns and adventurous in its character. Her collective body of work uniquely defines an artist in the present moment, but remains committed to addressing the eternal structures of reality using a methodology that is subversively nuanced.” -Aimee Walleston, author and critic, NYC
Kristina Buch (b. 1983, Germany) earned her MSc in biology and studied Protestant theology before turning to the world of art. She received her MA from the Royal College of Art in London and graduated with distinction from Rosemarie Trockel’s class at the Academy of Fine Arts Düsseldorf in 2013. In 2012 Buch’s work was represented at dOCUMENTA 13 and was exhibited at locations such as the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn (2018), MALBA / Buenos Aires (2017), Urbane Künste Ruhr (2014/2017), 14th Istanbul Biennial (2015), Kunsthalle Basel (2015), Index The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation (2014), Emily Harvey Foundation NYC (2013), Manifesta9 p.e. (2012), the German Embassy London (2010). Her works are held in collections such as the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf.
Buch taught at Imperial College London as tutor (2007–11), at Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main as assistant professor (2013–15), at HGK Basel (2015–16) as visiting lecturer under the “Next Society” professorship, besides lecturing at ISCP, Max-Planck-Institute, HKW Berlin, 60 years Documenta symposium, UdK Berlin, SAIC Chicago among others. She currently teaches as a Research Associate at the Institute for Art and Art Theory at the University of Cologne.
The first artist to be awarded the Grand Hans Purrmann Award in 2012 was the Berlin-based Israeli artist Dani Gal (*1975). He was succeeded in 2015 by the film and video artist Loretta Fahrenholz (*1981) and again in 2017 by Sabrina Fritsch (*1979).
The city announced also that artist Ugur Ulusoy (b. 1984, Germany), received the Hans Purrmann Sponsorship Award.
Hans Purrmann Foundation
Both awards were created by the city of Speyer and the Hans Purrmann Foundation in memory of the painter Hans Purrmann, born in Speyer in 1880. Hans Purrmann was a pupil of Franz von Stuck and a member of the Berlin Secession movement. He was also among the founding members of the Académie Matisse in Paris and remained a lifelong friend of his teacher Henri Matisse.
