THE PRIZES OF THE 31ST Biennial of Graphic Arts
The Grand Prize winner of the 31st Biennial of Graphic Arts is Ištvan Išt Huzjan.
The award of the jury (research residency) was given to Declan Clarke, the special mention of the jury to Pilar Quinteros and Peter Gidal received the lifetime achievement award.
The XXXI edition of the Biennale of Graphic Arts expands the very concepts of print making, graphic work, reproduction and circulation by including installations, films, archival materials, public interventions, sculptures and drawing. Nicola Lees successfully managed to create in each room a convincing dialogue between different works, problematizing both the history of the Biennale and the potentiality of new commission. The exhibition brings together young artists and historical figures, and its breath explores the state of the printing medium in many challenging directions.
Grand Prix: Ištvan Išt Huzjan
Istvan Ist Huzjan’s installation reflects – both literally and metaphorically – a complex web of historical references and formal devices in all their stratifications. The work is a polyphony of nature and memory, art history and the artist’s intimate responses to official narratives. The jury acknowledged the artist’s capacity to create a multi-layered structure that brings together locality and globality.
The work in the Biennial: Earth Reflections (2015) and Exchange Banner – OHO and Walter de Maria (2015). The work was made for the 31st Biennial of Graphic Arts.
Jury Prize (research residency): Declan Clarke
The jury proposes to award a residency to Declan Clarke, whose film explores time and politics, the materiality of information and the physicality of the borders in a fascinating way. The work successfully incorporates graphic elements and the stillness of images, and in so doing it exemplify the curatorial strategy to expend the formal and conceptual framework of the Biennale. The work problematizes the tension between personal memories and the wider socio-political context in Europe.
The work in the Biennial: Group Portrait with Explosives (2014)
Jury special mention: Pilar Quinteros
Recognising the Biennale as an important platform for young and emerging artists. The special mention goes to Pilar Quinteros for the energy and intelligence that she brought to her commission.
The work in the Biennial: Cathedral of Freedom (2015). The work was made for the 31st Biennial of Graphic Arts.
Life Achievement Award: Peter Gidal
The jury wishes to express its admiration for a life-long commitment to restless experimentation. Peter Gidal’s participation in the Biennial symbolizes the curatorial inclusion of multi-faced practices capable to explore and surpass the boundaries between literature and visual arts, experimental cinema and photography, representation, technology, conservation and dissemination.
The works in the Biennial: Index Books (1993– ), Ten Rare Lost Books; A Book Dealer's Nightmare (2011)
Photos. MGLC Archive. Photo: Jaka Babnik.
