Among the four artists shortlisted for the Prix de Rome Visual Arts 2021: our amazing, beloved Mercedes Azpilicueta (DAI, 2013). The shortlisted artists will receive a working budget and will be given the opportunity to create new work during a five-month period. The work will be exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam from the 13th of November 2021 onwards. Based on the new work presented, the jury will announce the final winner and the winning artist will receive 40,000 euros and the possibility to participate in a residency programme. In 2015 Foundland/Lauren Alexander (DAI, 2011) was shortlisted and in 2017 Rana Hamadeh (DAI,2009) was the final winner. We are SO proud of these powerful women, who traveled from 3 continents to the Netherlands to study and to make their voices heard.

The international jury of the Prix de Rome has selected four artists for the shortlist of the Prix de Rome Visual Arts 2021. The nominees are: Mercedes Azpilicueta, Alexis Blake, Silvia Martes and Coralie Vogelaar.

This was announced by the Mondriaan Fund, which organises and finances the Prix de Rome award.

The jury made its selection from a list of 217 artists who applied for the award. The selection represents a broad spectrum of contemporary artist practices, varying from film to performance, storytelling to science and craftsmanship to information technology. The four finalists reflect on current themes, they offer critical reinterpretations of past events, link untold histories to our present world or concentrate on a distant future. Each of them represents a sign of the times in their respective way.

The four selected artists have a strong practice and are working towards an established oeuvre, reinforcing their own signature style and idiosyncratic approach. At the same time, they allow new developments and intuitive processes in their work. The jury expects the Prix de Rome to stimulate these developments and to promote international recognition.

The Prix de Rome 2021 jury consists of: Ann Demeester (Director, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, extraordinary Professor Art and Culture at Radboud University, Nijmegen), Amira Gad (Head of Programs, LAS Light Art Space, Berlin), Antonio Jose Guzman (visual artist, researcher, lecturer), Samuel Leuenberger (Director, SALTS, Basel) and Viviane Sassen (photographer, winner of the 2007 Prix de Rome in Visual Arts). Chair is Eelco van der Lingen (Director Mondriaan Fund).

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