Nonprofit Organization Announces New Prize for Young Artists
The Victor Pinchuk Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2005 by the Ukrainian art collector and billionaire for whom the foundation is named. Pinchuk was asked to serve on the jury for the Japanese art festival Geisai, a semiannual competition for young artists in Japan that is sponsored by Takashi Murakami, the owner of Kaikai Kiki. Pinchuk, who collects and exhibits artwork by Murakami, found that the Japanese contest was a fascinating system, and inspired him to create his own art competition. So he created and launched the Future Generation Art Prize.
The sum of $100,000 will be awarded every two years, and the contest is open to all young artists who apply online to be considered. Approximately 100 art professionals will also be petitioned to nominate candidates whose work shows exceptional promise. The jury for the contest has not been announced yet, but Pinchuk has so far enlisted the assistance of celebrities including Miuccia Prada and Elton John.
Because Pinchuk wants to ensure that the winner of the Future Generation Art Prize continues to work after winning, $40,000 from the prize money must be spent on the production of new art. Also, the public will be involved in the choosing of the recipient. After all finalists have been announced, people can go online to vote for the winner of a People's Choice prize, which does not involve any cash award.
The online system used to determine the winner of the Future Generation Art Prize is designed to differentiate Pinchuk's prize from some of the more well-established art competitions such as the Hugo Boss Prize, which for 13 years has awarded $100,000 from the Guggenheim Museum, and the Turner Prize, a prestigious $36.400 competition that was established by the Tate in 1984. The winners of these awards are selected from a group of nominees submitted by a jury of professionals in various art disciplines. Pinchuk's award is also different from the others because of the sheer star power that infuses the board. Eli Broad, a Los Angeles financier who also runs an art foundation, sits on the board along with Miuccia Prada, the fashion designer who also sponsors and art foundation in Milan, and Elton John, the popular singer. From Pinchuk's point of view, Elton is the owner of one of the greatest contemporary photography collections in the entire world. The Pinchuk Art Center has exhibited some of Elton John's art collection on occasion.
Board members also include Glenn Lowry, from the Museum of Modern Art, Richard Armstrong, of the Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, Nicholas Serota, of the Tate, and Alfred Pacquement, of Paris's Pompidou Center. Applicants may be submitted from January 18 through April 18 by going online to futuregenerationartprize.org. Pinchuk will announce 20 shoart-listed candidates on June 22, who will be given the opportunity to exhibit their work at the Pinchuk Art Center located in Kiev. At that time, their works will also be posted online for the public to view and vote on. A winner of the prize will be announced the following December, along with as many as five runner-up winners, each of whom will be given $20,000 to serve in artist-in-residency programs.
Eckhard Schneider, general director of the Pinchuk Art Center, says the award program was also designed so that older, established artists can help younger artists. To that end, Pinchuk has enlisted several accomplished artists to serve as mentors and make themselves available to all the finalists and the eventual winner of the award. Pinchuk has high hopes for the Future Generation Art Prize. "I am hoping that the Future Generation Art Prize will help promote the Ukraine and Kiev as an important contemporary art center," he says.
