The winner of the fourth Max Mara Art Prize for Women was announced last night at the Italian Embassy in London. Laure Prouvost, whose work includes film, performance and installation art, was chosen from a shortlist of five artists for her 'gripping short films and intriguing environments'. The prize, awarded in collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallery, serves to promote female artists based in the United Kingdom.
As part of the biannual prize, which was established by the Maramotti family (who own the Max Mara brand), Prouvost will now embark on a two-part six month residency in Italy - splitting her time between the American Academy in Rome and the Pistoletto Foundation in Biella.
Featured in W*105, artist Michaelangelo Pistoletto's foundation, known officially as the Cittadellarte, is one part multi-disciplinary art school, one part Utopian community and one part ideas laboratory. It is founded on Pistoletto's belief that art should impact every aspect of society.
Max Mara has a long tradition of supporting the arts. The brand, founded by Achille Maramotti, even has its own art museum; the Maramotti Collection in northern Italy's Reggio Emilia, as seen in W*120, houses an impressive collection of artworks.
Whitechapel Gallery director Iwona Blazwick said that one of the prizes aims is to 'promote a strong relationship' between the fashion brand, the winning artist and the gallery across Europe. Blazwick once again presided over this year's judging panel - comprising the 'gate keepers of the art world,' as she puts it. Among the judges were Lisa Milroy; collector Muriel Salem; gallerist Amanda Wilkinson and critic and lecturer Gilda Williams, who all spent 'a glorious day' discussing the shortlist of five artists (a departure from last year's shortlist of three). The four runners up are Spartacus Chetwynd, Christina Mackie, Avis Newman and Emily Wardill.
Prouvost, speaking candidly at the awards ceremony of her win, said: 'Thank you to England for adopting me and Italy for inviting me'. Following the six month stint, the French-born London-based artist will show her resulting work at the Maramotti Collection and the Whitechapel Gallery in 2013.
Still from ’It, Heat, Hit’ digital video by Laure Prouvost, 2010
Courtesy of the artist; Motinternational
Still from ’The Wanderer (Betty Drunk)’ digital video by Laure Prouvost, 2011
Courtesy of the artist; Motinternational
Still from ’The Wanderer (Betty Drunk)’ digital video by Laure Prouvost, 2011
Courtesy of the artist; Motinternational
Still from ’Monolog’ digital video by Laure Prouvost, 2008
Courtesy of the artist; Motinternational
Still from ’The Artist’ digital video by Laure Prouvost, 2010
Courtesy of the artist; Motinternational
’An Evening with Jabba the Hutt’, The Intentional 3, Manchester by shortlisted artist Spartacus Chetwynd, 2003
’The Folding House’ by Spartacus Chetwynd
Photograph by Spartacus Chetwynd
’Figure 1’ by shortlisted artist Christina Mackie, 2007
Courtesy of the artist; Herald Street Gallery
’Sculpture of an idea of a painting of you’ (detail) by Christina Mackie, 2009
Courtesy of Herald Street Gallery
’Shaded’ by Christina Mackie, 2000
Courtesy of Herald Street Gallery
Still from ’Game Keepers without Game’ video projection by shortlisted artist Emily Wardill, 2009
Courtesy of the artist; Jonathan Viner, London
’Basking in what feels like an ocean of grace I soon realise that I am not looking at it but rather that I am it, recognising myself’ by Emily Wardill, 2006
’Beyond the speed of sound’, by shortlisted artist Avis Newman, 2007-2009
Courtesy of the artist
-
Wallpaper* checks in at the refreshed W Hollywood: ‘more polish and less party’The W Hollywood introduces a top-to-bottom reimagining by the Rockwell Group, capturing the genuine warmth and spirit of Southern California
-
Book a table at Row on 5 in London for the dinner party of dreamsRow on 5, located on the storied Savile Row, emerges as a perfectly tailored fit for fans of fine dining
-
How a bijou jewellery salon in Monaco set the jewellery trends for 2025Inside the inaugural edition of Joya, where jewellery is celebrated as miniature works of art
-
‘I am almost an anti-sculptor’: Dominique White on her Whitechapel Max Mara Art Prize showThe artist mines the ocean to explore Afrofuturism in ‘Deadweight’, opening at London’s Whitechapel and detailed in a new film
-
Dominique White wins Max Mara Art Prize for Women 2022 – 2024Artist Dominique White has been crowned winner of the ninth edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, presented in a ceremony at Whitechapel Gallery
-
Emma Talbot explores Greek myth and femininity at Whitechapel GalleryIn ‘The Age/L’Età’, her Max Mara Art Prize show at Whitechapel Gallery, Emma Talbot imagines a reality where violence is overturned by resolution, nurtured by an elderly female protagonist
-
Emma Talbot on optimism, feminism and reconfiguring the roots of powerThe British artist and winner of the eighth Max Mara Art Prize for Women illuminates Piccadilly Circus with optimism and confronts perceived shame around female ageing
-
Collezione Maramotti’s extraordinary art collection continues to evolveThe converted factory gallery in Reggio Emilia presents the first rehang of its permanent collection since it opened in 2007
-
A tribe of Emma Hart's decapitated ceramic skulls swing into the Whitechapel gallery -
Canine connection: William Wegman’s Dogs in Coats is travelling to Max Mara boutiques across the US -
Commedia show: Max Mara prizewinner Corin Sworn takes a theatrical turn
