Winners of the 2nd Choi Contemporary Art Prize Announced
December 2nd, 2022
These three artists demonstrated an ecological awareness and an extremely committed artistic practice. As Hélène Guénin points out, Director of the MAMAC, This jury is very pleased with this choice and with the complementarity between these three artists.
These three artists demonstrate an ecological awareness and an extremely committed artistic practice. As Hélène Guénin points out, Director of the MAMAC, This jury is very pleased with this results and with the complementarity between these three artists.
Helen Gaynin represents the Commitee of Mot du jury for the winners
Cao Minghao & Chen Jianjun
Cao Minghao and Chen Jianjun worked during the trip. They put research as a practice and emphasized on process and duo collaboration.
On the basis of research, conversations, a variety of long-term practical artistic projects, they launched the Water System Project in 2015. This project was based on the Dujiangyan irrigation project, located between the Min River hillsides and the Plain in Sichuan, the world's ancient damless water diversion project is still in use today.
< Water System Refuge # 3 > Water System Refuge # 3, 2022 ©CaoMinghao & Chen Jianjun
Cao Minghao and Chen Jianjun implied this as an entry point for their artistic creation and mixed practice, installations, images, documentation and workshops. They emphasized different thinking about past and future irrigation systems, ecological practices, individual and collective narratives, and the study of ecological consciousness in their works.
Award speech from the artist
Adrien Missika
Adrien Missika is an artist and gardener, whose work is also often carried out during travel. His work explores nature and culture in the form of humor. He explores many aspects of natural and environmental science, such as ecology, biology and geography, through various media: video, photography and sculpture, to installation and performance arts.
Over the years, Adrian Micica has travelled the world studying the most peculiar phenomena in order to reveal and present nature, thus rediscovering nature and readapting in the present world. He is also dedicated himself to studying how nature appears in our contemporary architecture and cities.
《Bee Palace》Palazzo delle © Adrien Missika
Award speech from the artist
Organisations participantes et artistes preselectionnes
This year, two important cultural institutions Museum of Contemporary Art in Nice and Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum Together, participated in the nomination and selection of artists in this year.
9 qualified artists such as Adrien Missika, Angelika Markul, Cao Minghao & Chen Jianjun, Cheng Xinhao, Marion Orfila, Ren Ri, Vivien Roubaud, Zhang Ruyi. through their distinctive artistic styles, they explore environmental issues. Their rich thinking and diversity of work gives us an opportunity to look through the lens of contemporary artists at the key issues facing our current society.
Art Devote Ecology
What role does art and culture play in the emergence of new ways of coexistence between human beings and the planet on which they live? It was based on the ongoing dialogue on this issue that the French Centre for Culture and the Fondation de Chaisse decided to create this prize for contemporary art.
Undoubtedly, ecological issues are the key challenges facing mankind in the 21st century. The habitability of the future planet depends on ecology. Artists are key participants in ecological transformation, questioning our relationship with the planet and helping us envision an ideal world for future generations. Together with them, many contemporary arts institutions are committed to and driving reflection and change to address the challenges of cultural decarbonization.
Based on the conception, the Johnathan KS Choi Foundation Prize for Contemporary Art supports two artists annually who are associated with the ecological-related theme. The winners, a French artist and a Chinese artist, will each receive 15,000 euros to create a work that focuses on contemporary social and environmental issues. The prize aims to raise the public awareness of ecological issues by supporting contemporary art creation and highlighting the role of artists in the current crisis.
The Choi Contemporary Art Prize constitutes a new platform we established from a civil society perspective. It encourages artistic creation as a medium to reflect on ecological issues. We aim to collaborate and exchange with top-tier art institutions and artists to highlight ecological development, a topic of shared global concern, and make new contributions to harmonious coexistence among humanity, as well as between humankind and the planet."
— Jonathan KS Choi, Chairman of the Jonathan KS Choi Foundation
Members of the jury
Xiaoyang CHEN
Executive Deputy Director of the Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
Gilbert CHOY
Director of the Jonathan KS Choi Foundation
Hélène GUENIN
Director of Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain de Nice
Aude URCUN BRUNEL
Cultural Attaché, Embassy of France in China
Carol Yinghua LU
Director of Inside- Out Art Museum, Beijing
Image courtesy of Choi Centre · Cloud House
