Today the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter announced Guadalupe Maravilla as the recipient of The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award 2021.
Guadalupe Maravilla (b. 1976, El Salvador) is a visual artist working and residing in Brooklyn, New York. In 1984, aged eight, Maravilla immigrated to the United States as an undocumented, unaccompanied child, fleeing civil war in El Salvador. When as an adult, he was diagnosed with cancer, Maravilla was treated with radiation and chemotherapy alongside his own healing practices and became cancer free. Both events have had an impact on Maravilla’s artistic practice and are present in his artworks.
The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award (LWAAP) presents 100,000 USD in prize money to a distinguished artist whose work will inspire and motivate future generations to active participation and social responsibility.
Presented bi-annually, The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award is intended to mark a significant milestone in an artist’s career and represents a financial commitment that places the art award among the most significant internationally.
In addition to the prize, there is an acquisition budget for the inclusion of the artist’s work in the Henie Onstad Collection, and the recipient will feature in a dedicated exhibition.
For the first time in Europe, a selection of work by the artist will be presented in a solo exhibition at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in Norway as part of The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award Programme. The exhibition period is January 14, 2022 and run through April 30, 2022.
Guadalupe Maravilla was selected as the recipient of The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award by an international jury comprising María Inés Rodríguez, editor of Tropical Papers and Curator At Large at MASP, São Paulo; Michelle Kuo, The Marlene Hess Curator of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA, New York; Elvira Dyangani Ose, Director of Showroom, London and appointed director of MACBA, Barcelona; Paulina Rider Wilhelmsen, Tate International Council Member and Founder of LWAAP and Wilstar Social Impact, Oslo; Caroline Ugelstad, Chief Curator at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo; and Tone Hansen, Director of Henie Onstad Kunstsenter and Founder of LWAAP.
Regarding his selection, the jury stated: “Guadalupe Maravilla’s interdisciplinary practice constantly refers to his experiences of exile and illness, migration and healing, identity and displacement. Yet Maravilla’s work is also far more than his life. Building on personal narratives but venturing far afield into pre-Columbian mythologies, collective memory, geopolitical history, and material culture, the artist constructs artworks that act. His sculptures and elaborate constructions are also performative tools; he collaborates with others to create interactive wall drawings; he has choreographed a motorcycle gang chorus,and crossed the Rio Grande using one of his artworks as a flotation device. When New York became the epicenter of the corona virus pandemic, Maravilla organised mutual aid work across the city supporting undocumented and immigrant communities with food and money, a continuation of his ongoing commitment to immigrant communities.”
Guadalupe Maravilla is the second recipient of The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award, which was inaugurated in London, U.K., in 2019, with Otobong Nkanga as its first recipient. Her work was presented in a solo exhibition at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in Norway in 2020–2021.
About the artist
Guadalupe Maravilla is a Professor of the Practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, having received his MFA from Hunter College and his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. A solo exhibition, “Portals” was on view at ICA Miami in 2019, and in 2021 he presented the solo exhibition “Planeta Abuelx” at Socrates Sculpture Park, also offering a series of healing sound baths. His work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; Nicaragua Biennial, Managua; and El Museo del Barrio, among other venues. He is a Guggenheim Fellow.
Awards and fellowships include Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship 2019, Soros Fellowship: Art Migration and Public Space 2019, Map Fund Grant 2019, Creative Capital Grant 2016, Franklin Furnace 2018, Joan Mitchell Emerging Artist Grant 2016, Art Matters Grant 2013, Art Matters Fellowship 2017, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship 2018, Dedalus Foundation Grant 2013 and The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Award 2003. Residencies include LMCC Workspace, SOMA, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and Drawing Center Open Sessions.
About The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award
The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award is a partnership between the Lise and Arne Wilhelmsen family and the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. It was established in order to continue and honour Lise Wilhelmsen’s (1936–2019) commitment to the visual arts. The family’s commitment with the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter is spanning 32 years, with the intention of a further extension.
