2020 Drawing Prize nominated artists: Callum Innes, Florian Pumhösl, Juan Uslé

The Daniel & Florence Guerlain Foundation has announced the names of the three nominated artists for the 2020 Drawing Prize.

Callum Innes, Scottish artist, born in 1962 in Edinburgh where he lives and works. Studied at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, then at the Edinburgh College of Art. Represented by the galleries: Ingleby (London), Kerling (Dublin), i8 Gallery (Reykjavik) and Sean Kelly (New York).

With his watercolours and paintings in delicate shades, Callum Innes perpetuates the idea of art that combines notions of spirituality and nihilism, in that his painterly approach stems from a stripping, or even an erasure, of his own gestures. In his early career, Innes was in fact a figurative painter. He feels the need to distance himself from his initial expressive impulse, so that the work can speak for itself and his images can gradually dissolve into the heart of the paper or into one another.

Florian Pumhösl, Austrian artist, born in 1971 in Vienna where he lives and works. Studied at the Höhere Graphische Bundes-Lehr-und Versuchsanstalt, then at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Represented by the galleries Meyer Kainer (Vienna), Buchholz (Cologne) and Miguel Abreu (New York).

In precise lines, at once supple and sensual, Florian Pumhösl pursues the story of abstraction and minimalism. His manner of drawing (together with his painting, sculpture and videos) is based on repetition and exercises in which he questions the very essence and reality of an artwork. His lines, drawn with natural grey pigments or in Crayola red crayon, constantly give rise to new narratives or pictorial explorations. Not to mention that this medium allows him to convey an implicit, yet very real, softness and sensuality.

Juan Uslé, Spanish artist, born in 1954, lives and works in New York. Studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos, Valencia, Represented by the galleries Lelong (Paris, New York) and Cheim & Read (New York).

Juan Uslé’s watercolours—gradations of colour and plays of transparency—effectively bring together the history of abstraction and memories of landscapes. Drawing, painting, repeating the gesture… His work focuses on specific movements, creating rhythm and plays on light. The different surfaces seem to move backwards and forwards, giving rise to a toing and froing within the work and a new spatial form that redefines conventional perspective. Juan Uslé produces drawings in a ritualized manner, which makes him feel at once disconnected and totally bound to the world.

An exhibition of the three artists will be shown in Paris at the Salon du Dessin from March 24–30, 2020 at the Palais de la Bourse. The jury will meet on the March 26, 2020 and the winner will be announced on the same day.

Members of the 2020 jury are: Clifford Davis (United States), Davíd Samuelsson (Iceland), Carlos Usandizaga (Spain), Carlo Boyl di Putifigari (Italy), Béatrice Charon, Thierry Gontier, Hervé Halgand, Florence and Daniel Guerlain (France).

About the prize
The prize concerns artists for whom drawing on paper or cardboard 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.

The Prize’s endowment is 25,000 euros: 15,000 euros for the winner and 5,000 euros for each of the two other artists. A work by the winner is offered to a French institution by the Foundation.

Awarded for the first time in 2007 and biennial until 2009, the Prize honours artists who make any unique work on paper, using graphic means: crayon, charcoal, red chalk, ink, wash tint, gouache, watercolour, pastels and felt… including collages and wall drawings but excluding computer and mechanical processes.

The candidates are selected by a committee composed of the two founders, Daniel and Florence Guerlain, and of four members chosen for their competence in contemporary art. Following a working meeting with the artists, visits to studios and analysis, the committee selects three artists whose work is presented to a jury that changes with each prize and chooses the winner.

The prize receives the support of “Le Cercle des Amis,” Neuflize OBC, Guerlain, Artcurial, Axa XL Art & Lifestyle, Voisin Consulting Life Sciences, Groupe Elysées Monceau, Groupe Pasteur Mutualité, the Salon du Dessin, L’École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, Château Seguin, Vodka Beluga, Champagne Ruinart and Rova Caviar Madagascar.

Past winners
2019: Claire Morgan (Ireland) / 2018: Mamma Andersson (Sweden) / 2017: Ciprian Muresan (Romania) / 2016: Cameron Jamie (United States) / 2015: Jockum Nordström (Sweden) / 2014: Tomasz Kowalski (Poland) / 2013: Susan Hefuna (Egypt) / 2012: Jorinde Voigt (Germany) / 2011: Marcel Van Eeden (Netherlands) / 2010: Catharina Van Eetvelde (Belgium) / 2009: Sandra Vasquez de la Horra (Chile) / 2007: Silvia Bächli (Switzerland).

Contact
T +33 (0)6 44 13 99 14 / fdg2 [​at​] wanadoo.fr