Arte Laguna Prize Network | The ongoing connections of the 16th Edition

Between consolidated collaborations and new partnerships, Arte Laguna Prize continues every year to expand its network of galleries, museums and companies, giving artists the opportunity to get in touch with new realities and create eclectic projects. Among them there are also the winners of the Special Prizes, who thanks to the internationality and reputation of the Prize, come from different cultural and artistic backgrounds, allowing the public to have a totalitarian vision on contemporary artistic production worldwide.

Thanks to the network of opportunities given to them by the Prize, the artists can feel cocooned in an environment where art and culture merge, at the same time spreading their wings and active minds to create new visions of the future and the world we live in.

For the Artist in Residence section, Larisse Hall, Khalil Sharif, Shirin Gunny, Eleonora Monguzzi, Federica Zianni, Serena Bellini, JingYun Wang and Luisa Turuani were selected.

Larisse Hall, artist based in Nelson (New Zeland), was chosen by Espronceda (Barcelona, Spain). Her works are a fusion of the ethereal quality of light with the materiality of paint and form. She uses light as both medium and a time reference, to explore everyday societal nuances within her work.

The work of Larisse Hall, says the curator of Espronceda, leads through a poetic journey between experimentation, forms and nuances where spaces are canceled for a three-dimensional vision of reality, from simplicity to the complexity of human existence. His works and research are interesting for the spaces of Espronceda, industrial, which challenge the gaze and artistic research. They hope that the period of residence can give life to new creations between Mediterranean light, spaces and local identity.

Khalil Cahrif, based artist from Rio de Janeiro, was instead selected by KW Institute for their residency in Berlin. He’s an artist focused on the socio-political and behavioral aspect of life, who creates works with issues to the Art-Philosophy.
“Charif’s multi-faced practice spanning between video, film, performance and object-hood reflects directly on his environment through non-linear, intuitive, poetic imagery that portray sites and behaviors” says the spokeperson of KW Institute. “The structural and editorial approach underlines his interests in the ‘materiality’ of film through found-imagery as well as created ones, in which the notion of narration is being challenged. I believe it would be of great value for Charif to come to KW for a residency in order to further this conversation”.

Shirin Gunny, a visual artist passionate about the notion of “transformation” within all realms of the living world from Mauritius, was selected for NY Residency Unlimited, an online residency of one month where the artist will have a weekly meeting with an art professional, a weekly meeting with the RU team, connecting with the RU residents and a virtual public program.

Eleonora Monguzzi, Italian artist who focuses on the landscape and the symbiosis between man and nature, will spend ten days in the studio of Omar and Michelangelo Galliani in a residency that will culminate with an Exhibition.

This is the motivation behind the choice of the Galliani brothers: “Starting from an abstract and intangible theme, Eleonora Monguzzi demonstrates a great expressive technique and in representing a fluid idea that of silence with minimalist colors that evolves in a path that it intersects two-dimensionality and three-dimensionality”.

Fonderia Artistica Versiliese has selected Federica Zianni for the peculiarity with which the artist approaches the material, which becomes the research tool through which, an ancient process such as lost wax casting, is projected into a totally contemporary vision, daughter of the time in which we live.

For the “Residences in Villas”, Villa Roberti has selected Serena Bellini, artist and surface designer from Trieste, because through sensitivity and capability they think she could live and breathe the atmosphere of the villa drawing the right inspiration for her artistic production. They think Serena has the rare sensitivity to combine ancient and modern, creating works of great harmony and charm, in full Reinassance spirit.

Villa Rechsteiner will welcome Luisa Turuani, young artist from Milan who wants to show the limit beyond which a situation could turn into its opposite.

“Looking at Luisa Turuanis approach to art” say the owners of the Villa, “makes us believe that Rechsteiner Winery would be a great place for her to develop the on-going research and to hopefully for some moments enrich the park, the wine cellar or the barchessa with one of her performative installations. We are keen to learn more about the quality of her immediate way of expression and very pleased to allow an insight in our own working strategies which are bound to nature, sustainability, new reflections of old traditions and the challenge of promoting wine as a cultural good.

We believe that at Rechsteiner Luisa Turuani will find a fertile ground to find inspiration for developing new art works and look forward to see her catching some scenes with her camera or projecting recorded moments on interesting surfaces”.

Villa San Liberale will host Jingyun Wang, from Neijian (China), who lives and works in Venice, in who they have rediscovered openness and curiosity towards the world and the infinite use of facets and cultures, with him they open the villa to artist residences and wish to support him in his artistic and investigative path, and are eager to see what his art poetic and delicate, he will be able to develop a Villa San Liberale.

The Cris Contini Contemporary Gallery of London chose Jens Hesse among the finalist artists of the 16^ Edition of Arte Laguna Prize for his technical skills and ability to read and represent the contemporary world that surrounds us and involves us every day.

For the “Festival and Exhibition” section continue the collaboration with Art Nova 100, that will exhibit the video of the finalists of the Video Art Section: Campolese Cinzia, Dainotti Emanuele, Guillaume Elise, Hewitt Mark C., Heydt Samantha, Hung Yu Hao, Kouniari Kiki, Langsdorf Henrik, Morandini Angelo, Palena Maria.

Bios Line instead, partner for this year “Business for Art” Special Prize, selected Vittorio Mandelli and his project wovo for the highly significant value of the seeD as a germinal and foundational element of any natural element and the realization of the work in wood, a completely natural element, linked to the history of man and his creations -therefore a material that is both naturally available and noble- was what brought them to choose this artist.

The last Prize of this past Edition is the one dedicated to “Sustainability and Art”, in collaboration with NaturaSì and Ca’ Foscari Sostenibile. The artist they chose is Marina Gasparini. For NaturaSi the artist’s project seemed delicate and incisively contemporary, able to inhabit different spaces and places, flexible and free like the yarns used in her work, but also like a thread grass moved by the wind, while for Ca’ Foscari her works prompts the viewer to reflect on the value, beauty, and balance that we could lose if we do not protect biodiversity.