BC21 BostonConsulting & BelvedereContemporary Art Award 2013
September 5–November 3
21er Haus, Schweizergarten
Arsenalstraße 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Hours: Wednesday 10am–9pm;
Thursday–Sunday 10am–6pm
Anna Witt wins the BC21 BostonConsulting & BelvedereContemporary Art Award 2013.
This 20,000 EUR award, one of the highest privately endowed art prizes in Austria, was conferred for the fourth time by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Belvedere.
Jury statement: “Because of the high standard of each contribution it was hard to choose a single winner, but after much deliberation, we unanimously decided to give the award to Anna Witt.
As a jury we found her to be one of the rare examples of an artist able to bring together conceptual enquiry with empathy for the people who contribute to her works, and articulate this through a precise formal language. Her practice appears to be motivated by a genuine curiosity about how individuals think and experience the world in relation to social situations and political questions. And it might be said that this curiosity also extends to the viewer. Through her performative video installations that build on collaborations with individuals and groups, it is possible to see how Witt gives agency to participants—suggesting the role of the active citizen and channeling words and ideas into a shared public space for discussion. Working from a tradition of politicized art, she engages with a variety of itineraries from this field but rearticulates them for the needs of a contemporary situation, as well as the needs of her own practice. Despite her conceptual and political focus, the artist nevertheless understands and utilizes the power of the visual, and is able to create spatial situations, which fully engage the viewer’s attention.”
Born in Wasserburg on the Inn/Germany, Anna Witt currently lives and works in Vienna. She studied Fine Arts in Munich and Performative Art – Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Her work has been shown in many solo and group exhibitions among others: 2013 Marabouparken, Sundbyberg, Sweden; Bayrischer Staatsförderpreis, Galerie der Künstler, Munich; 2012 Magazin 4, Bregenzer Kunstverein; Lux/ICA, Biennial of Moving Images, London; Salzburger Kunstverein/Kabinett; Austrian Cultural Forum London; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen; 2011 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana; 2010 6th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art; 2008 Manifesta 7, Rovereto
This year the international jury is made up of Giovanni Carmine, Director of the Kunst Halle St. Gallen in Switzerland; Maria Hlavajova, Director of BAK – basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht; Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, independent curator and Chief Editor of the Manifesta Journal, Paris/Amsterdam, and Grant Watson, curator at Iniva – Institute of International Visual Arts in London as well as Agnes Husslein-Arco, Director of the Belvedere and the 21er Haus, Museum of Contemporary Art.
BC21 Boston Consulting & Belvedere Contemporary Art Award
The BC21 BostonConsulting & BelvedereContemporary Art Award was launched in 2007 by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Belvedere. It is awarded to artists who live in Austria, are under the age of 40, and whose work is interdisciplinary. A global leader in management consulting on business strategy, BCG works with firms from a variety of industries and regions and has offices in more than 75 locations in 43 countries. The BC21 Art Award was established on BCG’s tenth anniversary with a clear understanding of art’s potential to overcome traditional ways of thinking and acting ultimately opening the way for new dialogues. To date the prize has been awarded to Constantin Luser (2007), Nadim Vardag (2009), and Lucie Stahl (2011). It has been regarded as a prime example of private sector commitment to the arts for many years now. The goal is to assist up-and-coming artists to gain international attention and develop networks through the support of a nomination and selection jury, an exhibition and a publication.
Curator
Luisa Ziaja
Exhibition and catalog including works of all the nominated artists
Anna Witt’s works as well as those of the other nominated artists, Marlene Haring, Ralo Mayer and Christoph Meier, will be on view until the beginning of November at the 21er Haus – Museum of Contemporary Art.
Exhibition catalog – bibliographic data
BC21 ART AWARD 2013
Editors: Agnes Husslein-Arco, Antonella Mei-Pochtler, Luisa Ziaja
Publisher: Belvedere, 88 pages, 24 x 33cm, hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-902805-29-4
Press contact:
Dr. Gretchen Simms
Head of Communication & Press 21er Haus
T +43 1 795 57 275 / F +43 1 795 57 250 / g.simms [at] belvedere.at
