Jindřich Chalupecký Award 2014

An international jury nominated five artists for the 25th edition of the leading Czech award for visual artists under 35. The collective exhibition was held at the National Gallery Prague. For the first time in the Award’s history, the finalists received a material award in the form of a brass peg designed by Maxim Velčovský. “After the death of Václav Havel, who had traditionally presented the award, the ceremony did not feel so festive and unique anymore. We felt that we needed to make it special again, and we agreed that such a significant art award deserved a material prize which would last and remind the award holders of their success,” explained Lenka Lindaurová.

Finalists

The finalists of the 25th edition of Jindřich Chalupecký Award in 2014 included Martin Kohout, Richard Loskot, Lucia Sceranková, Roman Štětina and Tereza Velíková.

“This year’s finalists are exceptional personalities who use a very current language to express their strong views. My message to the curious viewers is: open your minds and be drawn into the exciting game that is contemporary art. This time, we present photography, new technological inventions, mysterious objects and films,” said the exhibition’s curator and head of Jindřich Chalupecký Society Lenka Lindaurová about the 25th edition of the Award.

See the collective exhibition here.

Award Holder

Jindřich Chalupecký Award 2014 went to Roman Štětina.

“In his works, Roman Štětina demonstrates the relation between sound and the visual element, with sound playing a crucial role. His work presents a fascinating intellectual dialogue between media as diverse as video, photography and installation. In the center of his attention is a medium that is slowly disappearing from the current culture of perception – the radio. He revisits history to examine the changes in the perception system of the modern human, with emphasis shifting from the auditive to the visual element. The artist does so in a minimalist, documentary style, enabling us to understand that which transcends yet remains the invisible (sometimes only audible) context of what constitutes a human today,” said the jury about their decision. The award holder received CZK 100.000 for an exhibition, publication or a creative project of his choice and an international residency.

The Audience Award went to Richard Loskot.

Jury

The head of the jury was renowned curator and director of The Bronx Museum of the Arts Holly Block. The jury further included art historian Milena Bartlová, visual artist Jiří Kovanda, art theorist and director of the Slovak National Gallery Alexandra Kusá, Iceland-born director of The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo Gunnar B. Kvaran, art theorist and curator Pavlína Morganová, and curator and art consultant at Bottega Gallery and Shcherbenko Art Centre in Kyiv Marina Shcherbenko.

Exhibition

The collective exhibition Jindřich Chalupecký Award – Final 2014 was held at the National Gallery Prague. The exhibited works ranged from classic photography to feature-length film to audiovisual interactive installation. Besides the finalists, the exhibition also featured the work of the latest award holder Dominik Lang. In collaboration with the Education section of National Gallery Prague, Jindřich Chalupecký Society held a series of side events including guided tours with the finalists and screenings of their video portraits.

Award Ceremony

The award ceremony of the 25th edition of Jindřich Chalupecký Award was held at the Studio Hrdinů theater hall of the Trade Fair Palace in Prague on November 20, 2014. The ceremony was directed by renowned theater director Jan Nebeský.