Announced the winners of the illy Present Future Prize

Turin, November 9, 2012 – After a number of years in which Present Future and illycaffè have built the same shared identity, their partnership will be strengthened even more from 2012 on by a formula that confirms a mutual growing of their collaboration. This year, the illy Present Future Prize offers its  economic support to set up an exhibition scheduled in the fall of 2013 at the Castle of Rivoli and dedicated to the three artists chosen by the international Present Future jury panel among twenty participants. This decision shows the will shared by Artissima and illycaffè to take forward in an innovative way their shared experience of collaboration and support in favor of the international artistic research.

Thank to the work and collaboration of the curators of this section and the members of the illy jury panel, from 2012 on Present Future becomes the direct supporter of the exhibition planning of Turin art institutions, and testifies the direct link between the research on the global emerging art looked for by Artissima in real time, year after year, and the will of the Turin museums to keep interpreting contemporary art in a critical way.

The members of the illy Prize jury panel  – Beatrice Merz (Director of the Castle of  Rivoli, Turin), Beatrix Ruf (Director of Kunsthalle Zürich, Zürich), Gregor Muir  (Director of  ICA, London) and  Andrew Berardini (Independent curator, Los Angeles) – have reviewed the monographic projects presented at Present Future, and have lived an intense study visit experience with the artists, to the point that their art projects in the Fair have become the commencement of a museum exhibition project on its own.

In the works of Vanessa Safavi (Switzerland – Chert Gallery, Berlin), Santo Tolone (Italy – Limoncello Gallery, London), and Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa (Guatemala - Proyectos Ultravioleta Gallery, Guatemala City) the members of the jury panel have observed  the quintessence of issues associated with the most urgent changes and problems of the contemporary global world, such as to encourage the wish to offer the three of them with the chance to become the chief protagonists of a collective exhibition. The jury has not only deemed their works momentous and worthy of a special acknowledgement, but has also seen in them the “image” of the same and shared course. Therefore, Beatrice Merz, Beatrix Ruf, Andrew Berardini, and Gregor Muir have decided to award  the illy Present Future Prize with a multiple formula to three artists -  Safavi, Tolone, and  Ramírez-Figueroa – who will be the chief protagonists in November 2013 of a collective exhibition, hosted at and curated by the Castle of Rivoli. As the jurors said, their decision shows  how the 2012 Present Future edition “has become, more than ever, an exceptional chance to launch new artistic talents and to testify in a direct way the most fascinating and puzzling changes that concern the new art research at global  level”. In this context, the illy Prize with the three-artist-exhibition at the Castle of Rivoli has proved to be an extraordinary laboratory to promote young talents.

This afternoon at Artissima Sarah Cosulich Canarutto, Director of Artissima, and Carlo Bach, illycaffè Art Director, have awarded the winners.

Present Future
In the 2012 edition, the Present Future project has developed to include twenty artists accompanied by their respective galleries, invited by an international team of five curators coming from different countries - Erica Cooke, Luigi Fassi, Fredi Fischli, Inti Guerrero, and Sarah Rifky. The common curators’ goal was to offer an original and reactive interpretation of the most recent international art production. Conscious of the complexity of this goal, the curators have chosen a field-research  approach with respect to the artists and projects, and have been committed to it  for some months and in a number of countries.

illycaffè has been promoting and spreading contemporary art by supporting international artists and exhibitions. One of the major results of its commitment is also the illy Present Future Prize, which has confirmed in recent years to be an extraordinary forge shop of talents. Many artists may confirm this,  among them Phil Collins, Mateo Tannatt, Patricia Esquivias, Luca Francesconi, Shizuka Yokomizo, Padraig Timoney, Michael Beutler, Melanie Gilligan, and Dina Danish, who won the past editions and are now acknowledged at international level.

Selecting Committee of Present Future – ARTISSIMA 19
Luigi Fassi (Coordinator) Art Director, ar/ge kunst Galerie Museum, Bolzano
Erica Cooke, Independent Curator, New York
Fredi Fischli, Curator, Studiolo, Zürich
Inti Guerrero, Art Director and Associated Curator, Teor/ética, San José, Costa Rica
Sarah Rifky, Independent Curator, Cairo

Jury panel of the illy Present Future Prize – ARTISSIMA 19
Beatrice Merz, Director, Castle of Rivoli – Museum of Contemporary Arts, Turin
Gregor Muir, Executive Director, ICA - Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Beatrix Ruf, Director, Kunsthalle Zürich, Zürich
Andrew Berardini, Independent Curator, Los Angeles 

Artists and Galleries at Present Future - ARTISSIMA 19
MERIS ANGIOLETTI, SCHLEICHER+LANGE, Paris, Berlin - STUART BAILES, ASSANTI, London - STÉPHANE BARBIER-BOUVET, GRAFF MOURGUE D'ALGUE, Geneva - SAM FALLS, INTERNATIONAL ART OBJECTS, Los Angeles - ZACHARY FORMWALT, D + T, Brussels - RACHEL FOULLON, LDT, Los Angeles
ANNA K.E., FIGGE VON ROSEN, Cologne, Berlin - LEE KIT, VITAMIN, Guangzhou - EMIL MICHAEL KLEIN, GAUDEL DE STAMPA, Paris - BASIM MAGDY, NEWMAN POPIASHVILI, New York - ALEXANDER MASSOURAS, SKYLIGHT, New York - KASPAR MÜLLER, PIA, Zurich - JENNY PERLIN, PRESTON, New York - NAUFÚS RAMIREZ-FIGUEROA, PROYECTOS ULTRAVIOLETA, Guatemala City - MATHEUS ROCHA PITTA, SPROVIERI, London - VANESSA SAFAVI, CHERT, Berlin - DANIEL STEEGMANN, MENDES WOOD, Sao Paulo - SANTO TOLONE, LIMONCELLO, London - NICK VAN WOERT, LAMBERT, Paris - MOLLY ZUCKERMAN-HARTUNG, KADEL WILLBORN, Karlsruhe

PRESS CONTACTS

illycaffè Trieste
Anna Adriani/Christine Pascolo – t. +39 040 3890111

Cohn & Wolfe Milano
Alessandra Bettelli/Giulia Perani – t. +39 02 202391/ 346.7008540 – giulia.perani@cohnwolfe.com

Paola C. Manfredi Studio
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press@paolamanfredi.com
Paola C. Manfredi – M +39 335 54 55 539 – paola.manfredi@paolamanfredi.com
Francesca Buonfrate – M +39 393 46 95 107 – francesca.buonfrate@paolamanfredi.com

Fondazione Torino Musei
T +39 011 4429523 – F +39 011 4429550
Daniela Matteu – daniela.matteu@fondazionetorinomusei.it
Tanja Gentilini – tanja.gentilini@fondazionetorinomusei.it