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List of finalists for the Luxembourg Art Prize

List of finalists for the 2022 Luxembourg Art Prize

Group 1

Mark Axelrod-Sokolov

▹ 76, USA (California), Printmaking
“I've always been fascinated by American stamps and especially commemorative stamps. When events occur for which official stamps are unlikely to be printed, I decide to create them myself, which coincides with the type of art I make. The insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 was one such occasion.”

“The Battle for the Capitol”, 2021. Photoshop and printmaking on paper.

Irina Dukina

▸ 38, Russia, Decorative arts (clay)
“My works recount the importance of the individualism of each person living on our planet. In my works, I deliberately refrain from seeking the ideal form. Clay allows me to explore the challenges of physicality and embodies the full range of complex human emotions regarding appearance.”

“Contact improvisation”, 2021. Clay. 40 x 70 x 70 cm (16 x 28 x 28 in.).

Sam Hauser

▸ 30, USA (Colorado), Painting
“I’m particularly fascinated by the relationship between the conscious and the subconscious. In my art, the conscious mind is symbolized by techniques based on the reproduction of reality, as experienced through sight, such as proportional drawing and portraiture. In recent years, my subconscious has taken on a more significant role in my work, expressed through vibrant color relationships and departures into abstraction.”

“Bather No. 5”, 2021. Batik painting on silk with fiber reactive dye. I use melted wax as a resist and paint the image in reverse through the use of dye baths. Stretched on a white wooden frame. 63 x 76 cm (25 x 30 in.)

Livio Moiana

▸ 53, Italy, Photography
“I’m fascinated by the human body, by the shapes that bodies can create together by combining movement and the close-ups and images that the shadows of these bodies create. Through my photos, I hope that people can read into the shadows and the dark areas of these bodies, and that they can find the true light of life.”

“Untitled”, 2019. Photographic print on matte paper mounted on a 2 cm Light panel.

Sanan Salamli

▸ 38, Azerbaijan, Painting
“In my abstract works, I build connections across lines, colors and technical discoveries. I try to achieve unity, wholeness and harmonious balance. Cosmic structures with asymmetric symmetry are formed, and these structures are reminiscent of a human being, both in form and in essence. My works are merely a projection of my thoughts, my soul and my subconscious.”

“Attitude/position”, 2019. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 63 x 48 cm (25 x 19 in.)

Cédric Vionnet

▸ 44, Switzerland, Installation
“I am a neon glassblower, which is a disappearing profession. My interest in graffiti can be seen in the Neon Tags series, which was born from my walks through the streets of Geneva. The idea of the work presented came to me during a visit to the Matisse Museum in Nice. Experimentation with tubes of light is what truly drives me.”

“Matisse - Bouquets de blé” (Matisse - Bouquets of wheat), 2019. 17 Murano tube elements: orange, yellow, green with noble argon/mercury gases. Transparent tubes with rare neon and helium gases.

Ilann Vogt

▸ 36, France, Installation
“I cut texts into strips and assemble them into paper weavings. In an artisanal, almost monastic way, I work with the books in the solitude of my studio. In the present work, I no longer use the entirety of a text and thus have broken with the unity of “one text, one work.” I used only excerpts of text, in all possible languages, and have interwoven and linked them to obtain a weave which reflects current and past civilizations. This monumental work nearly reaches the dimensions of “The Wedding of Cana” painted by Paul Veronese in 1563 and exhibited in the Louvre Museum in Paris.”

"Praise of the story", 2021. Cut and woven paper, 650 x 950 cm (256 x 374 in.)

Vincent Wolf

▹ 24, Brazil, Painting
“The most visceral aspect of art is my main interest. I love the rawness of things. I spent my late childhood and early adolescence in a Catholic hospital, and I ended up developing a kind of fascination for religious symbolism even if it wasn't part of my faith. The darkest and most compromising perspective of Christianity is one of my favorite subjects, and I try to bring out a beauty that’s, above all, captivating.”

“Lucifer, le fils du matin” (Lucifer, the morning son), 2020. Graphite and charcoal drawing on paper, then scanned and the final painting done on a Wacom screen.

Group 2

Jillian Bogan

▸ 35, Canada (Saskatchewan), Painting
“The purpose of my work is to create an understanding of human beings and the human experience. I like when people reflect upon and feel affected by my work. The painting presented is a chaotic but realistic representation of violence in the Ukrainian parliament over language laws. More generally, the painting also shows the sexist state of politics, as all the politicians are men, which is an accurate representation of the event and is the case in many other parliaments around the world.”

“Politics #2”, 2022. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 91 x 123 cm (36 x 48 in.)

Sophie Foote

▸ 58, New Zealand, Installation
“I love the idea of a kaleidoscope. I try to transpose an adult’s perspective with a child’s perspective by trapping ordinary objects with my macro photographic lens. The morphology of colors and the modulations of nuances and intensities are at the heart of my reflections regarding images and objects. I generate new digital artifacts, patterns, phantasmagorical shadows and semblances of architecture and physiognomy.”

“Here is Where I Am”, 2015. Macro photography, digital post-processing and printing, hand gilding, laser cutting, spray painting/painting with recovered and ready-made objects, MDF, paper, reusable wallpaper, "gold" aluminum foil, wax candles and color-changing rubberized automotive paint.

Otero Fuentes

▸ 36, Puerto Rico & USA (New York), Installation
“I'm an American immigrant born in Puerto Rico. In my art, I use utilitarian materials to create works that express an egalitarian and anti-elitist position. This deconstructs the cavalier complexity of fine art and makes the work accessible to everyone. My works use simple geometric forms to further accentuate a sense of familiarity. The works are constructed according to proportions appearing in nature in order to provide a sense of perfection.”

“2020”, 2020. 20 anti-viral face masks; Standard toilet paper holder. 10 x 10 x 10 cm (4 x 4 x 4 in.)

Francesca Lovera

▹ 33, Italy, Painting
"I am inspired, above all, by emotions and personal experiences as well as by the people I meet, along with their stories. I identify with them myself, sometimes almost entirely. The work presented expresses a particularly dark time that affected the entire world, caused by Covid, but one which we didn’t all experience in the same way. From this work emerges, not a universal darkness, but a very personal darkness, onto which are superimposed numerous feelings of uncertainty, fear, sadness and anguish.”

“Do you know darkness?”, 2022. Acrylic painting on canvas. 75 x 55 cm (30 x 22 in.)

Carmine Marini

▹ 29, Belgium, Decorative arts (textiles)
“On the islands of Lake Titicaca, weavers are mostly men. They walk around with their tools, on all roads and in all types of weather. Their weavings are also part of their skin, and they dress themselves in their stories. In the same way, the art of crochet has become an extension of my body, which allows me to meditate and express my story and my personality. In the tapestry presented, I express all the emotions that Peru evokes in me, using photos of landscapes that have left their mark on me.”

“Peru”, 2020. Crochet, cotton. 120 x 100 cm (47 x 40 in.)

Corinne Sénac

▹ 58, France, Decorative arts (textiles)
“My chance meeting, more than thirty years ago, with an old woman who perfectly mastered a vast number of needlepoint stitches was, for me, a revelation. Over time, I have learned or invented more than two hundred stitches and patterns which I juggle endlessly. Mastering these demanding techniques allows me to consider new forms of expression, both in the patterns and in the treatment of light.”

“Le Petit Nice in Girond”, 2018. Wool and cotton yarns on mono blank canvas. 80 x 125 cm (32 x 49 in.)

Yu-Hsuan Tai

▸ 25, Taiwan, Mixed media
“It's the minimalist practice of art that interests me the most. The work presented is made of handmade eraser shavings and ink. My work explores the relationship between painting and time. The more I add eraser shavings and ink to the work, the more I illustrate the evolution of thought which drives art, technology and civilization. In the process of revealing the work, I also explore how the two extremes of cause and effect, yin and yang, zero and the infinite, work together to construct the world.”

“Gray composition number one”, 2021. Eraser shavings and ink. 98 x 130 cm. (39 x 51 in.)

Miho Yamamoto (美穂山本)

▸ 34, Japan, Drawing
“The body is the main focus of my work. I create works where the viewer can see both the visible parts and those in the background. My drawings preach liberation of the body, the beauty of the body and the inner will. In the work presented, I want to show that the beauty of a woman does not express itself. I want to convey how precious and beautiful it is to have self-confidence and to love yourself.”

“Torso”, 2022. Graphite pencil on paper. 65 x 50 cm. (26 x 20 in.)

Group 3

Liling Cui

▸ 33, China & the UK, Photography
“My photography focuses on the documentation of religious culture. I spent two months in the village of Tarshul, in the Szechuan Province, which has the second largest group of Tibetans in China. My art project depicts the simple and authentic life of this Tibetan village. The current generation of young Tibetans is facing a challenging situation. Due to government intervention, young people are no longer allowed to become monks. And with the growth in modernization, the number of shepherds and monks has gradually disappeared, and more and more young people have left for the cities. My work bears witness to the slow deterioration of Himalayan culture among the youth.”

“Stay or go”, 2021. Digital photography, Sony A7R2

Evelyn Hellenschmidt

▹ 60, Germany and Spain, Sculpture
"My work is a discourse of intimacy, meticulousness, egocentrism and trance. I'm always looking for basic structures, the geometric purity and lightness in a form. My work is inspired by illegal immigration between Morocco and Spain. The title refers to a desperate situation of people who need to cross the border between two continents by sea, in order to arrive at a life without hunger or deprivation. This work speaks in a general way about the ability of human beings to flourish where they were born.”

“Boats of possibility or boats of hunger”, 2008. Sculpture in brass, copper and bronze, soldered and patinated.

Isidora Lackington

▸ 45, Chili, Drawing
“My work is composed mainly of paintings and pencil drawings through the method of realism. I investigate the imprint of personal and collective memory by reclaiming what’s simple, ephemeral and unobtrusive, whether through a landscape, a portrait or an object. I seek to discover the beauty of what’s typically ordinary and overlooked, like a car on the highway or a box of matches, by taking it and placing it on the field of artistic representation, transforming it into an image charged with emotional and historical meaning.”

“Fosforera Ecuatoriana”, 2022. Colored pencil on cotton paper. 50 x 40 cm (20 x 16 in.)

Sema Maskili

▸ 42, Turkey, Painting
“My works make reference to the concept of a primitive and barbaric human nature. There is an aggressive need that continues to exist somewhere within a person, despite being civilized. When I paint a human being, I concentrate on the violence within them, and I create compositions made from bodies that clash in an animalistic way, intertwined anatomical structures and crushed and deformed body parts. I approach humans as an entity caught between ethical values and animal instincts, and I question the complexity of human nature.”

“Mob Psychology”, 2022. Oil on canvas. 110 x 85 cm. (43 x 34 in.)

Mike Miller

▹ 34, USA (Ohio), Painting
“My paintings are expressive, experimental and free. This painting represents the mental noise created by the overload of information we receive by constantly using our cell phones. The hand holding the cell phone is deliberately colorless, symbolizing the absence of life. The face is deliberately blurred, symbolizing our scattered and noisy brains.”

“Disconnected”, 2022. Acrylic, oil, oil stick, Plexiglass, gold leaf, marker and diamond dust on canvas.

Sara Shira Cutler

▹ 30, Israel & the UK, Painting
“I immigrated to Israel from the UK a few years ago. I create expressive oil paintings which seek to capture the experience of human existence and its many aspects. The superposition of layers of paint and human figures on the canvas, mixed with a lyrical energy or what appears to be a storm of emotions, produces a human chaos that oscillates between desire and violence, imagination and reality.”

“Movement”, 2022. Oil on canvas. 120 x 150 cm (47 x 59 in.)

Fransix Tenda

▸ 38, Congo & The Netherlands, Drawing
“I seek to break the boundaries that exist between art and science. My recent project is dedicated to remembrance, and for this, I use my family archives, including notebooks from my mother, a public elementary school principal, and service logs from my father, a former journalist at National Television in the 1900s. I leverage the interaction between the writings in the documents and my drawings. “Beto na Beto” means “Between us” in Kinkongo, one of the dialects of the Congo.”

“Beto na Beto” (Between us). Acrylic, Fusin, Ecoline and Oil Pastel on Paper. 119 x 91 cm (47 x 36 in.)

Mykola Tolmachev

▹ 29, Ukraine, Drawing
"My works are mainly about effeminacy in the human world, which breaks with the forced perception of what a man "should be”. It’s a place where repressed sexuality and vulnerability, caused by a dependency on feelings and desires, are combined in mocking way. I use watercolors to create my works. This medium, on the one hand, offers a wide range of possibilities, but on the other hand, leaves very little room for error.”

“Sword ll", 2022. Watercolor on paper. 17 x 16 cm (7 x 6 in.)

List of finalists for the 2021 Luxembourg Art Prize

Group 1

Christian Bold

▸ 42, Germany, Painting
“While meticulously preparing each painting, I try to find and maintain a balance between an affirming enthusiasm and an implicit skepticism, between pleasure in the show and a disdain for clichés. The wordplay in the title of the work, which is a reference to a dance, is meant to suggest the ritualized elements of a street fight. The visual allusion to Hokusai’s woodblock print, “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” doesn’t just make the composition more dynamic, it also creates a median line with one of my visual models.”

Bambuleo, 2017 - Acrylic on canvas - 200 x 300 cm (79 x 118 in)

Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux

▸ 26, France, Painting
“Naitre à soi [Finding Oneself] is the energy with which we work on our own uniqueness while using a library of references that are plural. It’s actually a phenomenon of creolization, of archipelization: the way that different cultural references branch out to each other across geographic areas and mental landscapes, forming a contact zone that I try to transcribe into a composition, a canvas.”

Naître à soi [Finding Oneself], 2020 - Oil and gouache on canvas - 162 x 130 cm (64 x 51 in)

Susan Kremer

▸ 29, Czech Republic & Hungary, Digital arts
“My series Empty Spaces represents my approach and my interpretation of the fear of emptiness caused by the virus. When I walked through the empty streets, I felt like I was trespassing on private property, crossing the border into a place where I never should have been. The skeleton of the cities that loomed around me during these daily walks filled up with digital life after curfew, once we found ourselves trapped within our own walls.”

Empty Spaces, 2021 – Digital work

Jennifer Lescouët

▹ 34, France, Photography
“It was in the context of suddenly going deaf at age eight that, during adolescence, I became interested in photography. It was a tool that, early on, allowed me to express myself and develop a “gaze that hears.” I transcribe the movements of sign language, playing with the photographic exposure time. The challenge is to show the movement of the sign while keeping the model’s face in focus.”

Les mots du Silence, Signe: ‘Langue des signes’ [Words of Silence, Sign: Sign Language], 2015 - Photography

Zoran Mishe

▸ 37, Bulgaria & North Macedonia, Printmaking, Etching
“In printmaking, sharing and teamwork are essential to developing one’s personal talents. In this series on Legos, I’m trying to understand the way our interpretations of the world vary according to age. When children build with Legos, they construct their own visions of the world. The question is to know whether, once they grow up, they will create the same representation of the world if they play the same game.”

The Truth - Let's Play I, 2021 – Print – 66 x 100 cm (26 x 39 in)

Francis O'Shaughnessy

▸ 41, Canada, Photography
“During my research, I had the idea of setting up a bellows device in front of a computer to convert digital representations into wet collodion. I wanted to revisit previous productions and “recontextualize,” reinterpret my favorites. The result turned out to be so interesting that I made a series. In this way, I have anchored ancient processes with the technology of today.”

Plaque 58, 2020 - Wet collodion

Celina Portella

▸ 44, Brazil, Mixed media (Photography)
“I’m interested in the representation of the body and its relationship with space. My work has a profound connection with the world of choreography, because of my professional experience with dance. Using the artifice of trompe l'oeil and the radical integration of media, I work in the ambiguous terrain between the material and the immaterial, between the world’s objectivity and illusion.”

Corte/1 [Cut/1], 2019, Cut photograph, 135 x 95 cm (53 x 37 in)

Jeanne K Simmons

▸ 57, United States (Washington), Sculpture, Decorative arts
“I am passionate about working in nature, with natural materials, to address issues concerning women, humanity and the Earth. The work presented is a celebration of the beauty of the natural world, and the beauty of our place in that world.”

“Lace Skirt”, 2019, Queen Anne’s lace and weaving techniques.

Group 2

Nina K Ekman

▹ 42 years old, Denmark and Norway, Sculpture (Textile)
“I grew up in the north of Norway, and my relationship with nature is a personal passion. The selected work questions the unsustainability of our modern lifestyles and invites the observer to reflect on our linear consumption methods, fast fashion and the consequences of our negligence on the future of the planet. I use second-hand clothing and wool scraps from the textile industry to create my works. Turfting is a method for weaving rugs.”

Please touch me, 2020, Turfting of unsold wool, wood, metal, concrete, old newspapers - Varied dimensions

Anna Guadagnini

▸ 38 years old, United Kingdom & Italy, Photography
“My work is comprised mainly of portraits. My intimate approach and the autobiographical nature of my practice often translate into self-portraits. My photos present a powerful narrative, an intermediary, part of a larger story. For this project in particular, Clarissa Pinkola’s book, Women Who Run With the Wolves, was a big source of inspiration.”

Like a Fish in a Bottle, 2021 – Digital photography

Kyle Hoffmann

▹ 36 years old, Australia, Photography
“Having grown up in Wisconsin, my artistic outlook was primarily passed on to me by my grandfather, a watercolor artist. My photographic creation is more like the creation of a painting. My method focuses on distilling the image down to its fundamental parts and emphasizes lines, shapes and movement in the eyes of the viewer.”

Paper 9, 2021 - Photo taken with a Hasselblad 500C/M, 120 mm f4 with bellows, film developed by hand. Film: Bergger Pancro 400

Leonardo Laino

▸ 41 years old, Italy, Decorative Arts (Mosaic)
“The art of mosaic is ‘a small piece that, at first glance, is useless but when combined with others, creates beauty’. The work presented is the result of a long and almost obsessive search to add malleability to the mosaic technique. Marble, which is a heavy material in itself, takes on fluidity and lightness in a rippling play of waves which is reminiscent of the shape of a scarf.”

Foulard (Scarf), 2015 – Marble and fiberglass, 60 x 77 x 5 cm (24 x 30 x 2 in).

Jerci Maccari

▹ 72 years old, Brazil, Painting, 6th time participating
“In my paintings, I develop a socio-geographic-cultural and historical account of family farming, widely practiced in the southern part of the country and strongly influenced by European immigration to Brazil in the early 20th century. The absence of faces on my characters is a social critique of the lack of importance given to rural workers.”

Semeadura em Tempos Sombrios I (Sowing in a Dark Time), 2021

Pilar Martínez

▹ 40 years old, Spain, Photography
“I experiment with my own body in sometimes unsettling places where it seems that neither time nor space exist. In this work, I wanted to capture the intangible and fleeting side of my being, and my camera proved to be the perfect instrument to help me succeed.”

Desde el interior (From the Inside), 2017 – Digital photography

Ryu Morizane

▹ 29 years old, Japan, Drawing, 2nd time participant
“I strive to explore new ways of representing flowers in drawings. Monochromatic with its flower motif, this design has a structure that gives a simple and symbolic impression. It took over a year and a half to complete.”

The Flowers, 2020 - Charcoal on paper, 88x143 cm

Laisvydė Šalčiūtė

▸ 57 years old, Lithuania, Painting, 2nd time participant
“In my work, I collect images that interest me and random bits of text on the Internet. I recycle them, as one would do with plastic bottles, and I rewrite them by changing their context and meaning through the principle of paradox. I then reuse them in a new work to create a visual fairy tale for adults which presents our reality as it’s constructed by the representation.”

The Rape of Europa, 2019, Wood engraving, oil and acrylic on canvas, 159 x 159 cm (63 x 63 in.)

Group 3

Saoud Abdallah

▹ 45 years old, Jordan & Syria, Mixed Media
“I always think that a work of art should be as simple and as expressive as possible. I like the austerity and simplicity of shapes and colors. All my works are made from natural black sand with no artificial colors. The sand used comes from the Jebel Shihan volcano in the city of Soueïda in Syria. The white is zinc dust or titanium powder.”

Souvenirs, 2020, natural sand and other materials on canvas, 150 x 150 cm (59 x 59 in)

Holly Boruck

▸ 66 years old, United States (California), Painting
“I have a deep interest in the human psyche and in earthly experiences. In my work, I strive to capture the richness of the human experience through expressions on faces and in body movements, all while representing the intellect, emotions and spirit. The work presented explores the relationship between humans and nature, and in particular how human activity accelerates the effects of entropy on the natural environment.”

Entropic 02, 2021 - Ink, colored pencils on paper – 46 x 36cm (18 x 14 in)

Fabian Bürgy

▸ 41 years old, Switzerland, Sculpture
“I create a minimalistic world inspired by a wide range of objects and appearances of the most ordinary. Tetrapods are a type of structure used to prevent erosion and to reinforce coastal structures such as seawalls and breakwaters. The work presented is my symbolic sculpture of 2020. It’s a symbol of the pandemic, but also of humanity exposed to the forces of nature, such as climate change.”

Tetrapod - Breaking the COVID-19 Wave, 2020 - Material: concrete. Technique: Negative mold (3D printing) filled with cement.

Oblivion Dope

▹ 26 years old, Portugal, Digital Art
“I’m passionate about nature, culture and technology, and this interest is reflected in the way I draw an image. In this digital work, "Blue Lady", I decided to illustrate a female character in an allegorical world, where nature and animal life blend together in a coherent way and create a mystical and colorful image.”

Blue Lady, 2021 - Digital illustration, digital painting, digital tools.

Mila Hacke

▸ 48 years old, Germany, Photography
“My work is an architectural photography research project that currently focuses on the Allies in Berlin and the architectural heritage of the four powers. The camera is my research tool. Through the focused image, I can show references by way of dialogues with other buildings and other eras.”

Allies in Berlin - The Architectural Heritage, 2020 – Architectural research work through photography

INSANE 51

▸ 29 years old, Greece, Street Art
“My main concept is based on love stories. My style is a double vision exposure technique that requires 3D glasses to see the various layers. I always use skeletons and portraits, because no matter how much we try to portray ourselves, in the end we are just bones and a skeleton. We're all the same inside. We’re all humans.”

MOONCAKE, 2019 - Acrylic spray paint on a 700 m2 wall in Worcester, Massachusetts (USA) – 17 x 40 meters (670 x 1.575 in)

Alena Kutnikova

▹ 39 years old, Russia, Photography
“I took advantage of the isolation during the forced confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic to begin photographing still lifes, being inspired by the Flemish paintings of the 17th century to reinterpret this theme in a modern way. I try to imagine which materials and accessories the Dutch masters might use if they were alive in our time.”

Still Life, 2021 – Digital Photography, Canon 5D Mark IV, EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

Miriam Pertegato

▸ 43 years old, Italy, Painting & Collage on Paper
“The drawing presented represents a sleeping nude Venus as a child. Next to her sits a little Cupid who is patiently waiting for her to wake up and is amused by watching a little garter snake in his hand. It is a work that comes from my great admiration for the Venus of Dresden by Giorgione and from my interest in the iconography of the sleeping Venus, that is, the celebration of inert, pure and natural beauty, the promise of awakening and, in this case, of development and maturation.”

Venere dormiente (Sleeping Venus), 2020 - Ink, tempera and collage on Fabriano 300 g/m art paper

List of finalists for the 2020 Luxembourg Art Prize

Monika Bulaj

▹ 54, Italy and Poland. Photography.
2nd entry
“My work concerns minorities in danger, nomads, and pilgrims. I look for places that serve as bridges located at cultural and spiritual borders, at the crossroads of forgetting minorities, relating the weakest beliefs and traditions, their fragile resistance, as well as their openness to dialogue.”

“The boat. Sierra Leone”, 2020. Hahnemühle print. Variable dimension

Ann Carrington

▸ 58, United Kingdon. Sculpture.
“My sculptures tell stories with everyday objects; using a variety of found objects is a fundamental element of my work. My metallic flower bouquets form a modern-day memento mori.”

“Snowball in Delft,” 2020. This work was created from welded and brazed spoons and from metal cutlery. 73 x 58 x 58 cm (29 x 23 x 23 in.)

Sara Genn

▸ 48, Canada (British Columbia) & USA (California). Painting
“According to the principles of the Japanese aesthetic wabi-sabi, objects and experiences increase in beauty when they evoke a feeling of spiritual desire. These paintings also strive to offer a space for visual pleasure with objects that occupy the space in a way that blurs the signifiers of genre, art, and monuments.”

“The moon woke me up fifteen times,” 2020. Acrylic on canvas in the artist’s frames. 155 x 485 cm (61.5 x 191 in.)

Dieudonné Gottfried Zola

▸ 23, Congo (Kinshasa). Painting
“My work focuses on highlighting visible minorities, otherness, and the body and its relationship with space. The representation of the body in this duality that encompasses it; between vulnerability and vehemence.”

“Florian,” 2020 – Oil on canvas – 89 x 146 cm (35 x 57 in.)

麻由美井上 (Mayumi Inoue)

▸ 32, Japan. Mixed media techniques
“As part of my approach, the hair lost by cancer patients during their treatment is collected, then woven into works of art to give it a second life. The memories of each are woven into the hair which becomes proof of existence, symbols of life.”

“Thread of Life – Fabienne #2,” 2020 – Hair weaving – 29.5 x 29.5 cm (11.6 x 11.6 in.)

Daniela Romanesi

▹ 44, Brazil. Photography.
2nd entry
“I express myself though nature macro photography. This technique represents one of my personality traits: curiosity. After taking this photo, I felt delivered from anxieties that were provoked by my husband’s heart attack, which he has now recovered from.”

“Arterial IX”, 2016 – Print photography on paper – 90 x 60 cm (35 x 24 in.)

Lionel Sabatté

▸ 44, France. Mixed media techniques
“The realm of the living as well as the transformation of material due to the passage of time are at the heart of my work. I cultivate material that carries within it the trace of a living thing: dust, ash, coal, dead skin, tree stumps…These elements are combined with unexpected material and works are thus created.”

“Red fortune and sub cutaneous,” 2019 – Oil on canvas. 130 x 130 cm (51 x 51 in.)

Julian Semiao

▸ 23, France. Painting.
2nd entry
“Having been influenced by the strength of raw art and by the vitality of neo-expressionism and free figuration, I draw my sources of inspiration into spontaneous and engaged pop art. I’m showing my vision of a contemporary society that is constantly in motion.”

“Exile,” 2019 – Acrylic on canvas. 190 x 165 cm

Tim Smith

▸ 41, Canada (Manitoba). Photography
“I built relationships of trust with the Hutterite communities of western Canada over the course of the last ten years. Their culture continues to be preserved thanks to their deliberate separation from the dominant society and their system of financial self-reliance. They represent perhaps the most successful attempt at community life in modern history. The selected work is the portrait of Justin after his second day of slaughtering thousands of laying hens. The work is hard, and most of the able members of the colony must participate.”

“Portrait of Justin Hofer,” 2015. Digital photography. Variable dimension.

Marc David Spengler

▸ 24, Germany. Painting
“I focus on illustrations and abstract compositions. My creative approach includes creating abstract worlds via the spontaneous painting process. Each of my images is created without drawing pencil on paper, because the first sketch is generally the best and must therefore become the final image. This approach has made me both a creator and an observer.”

“Untitled,” 2020 – Acrylic on paper. 25 x 36 cm (10 x 14 in.)

Anibal Vallejo

▸ 44, Colombia. Painting
“I am interested first and foremost in the fundamentals of painting: color, shape, composition, movement, and area. In the selected work, the hand-embroidered drawing exorcizes my creative process that lasts for hours, for days, almost like a mantra that completes the pictorial language by giving the painting a third dimension.”

“Sin Título, #537” (Untitled, #537), 2018. Acrylic and hand embroidery on canvas. 200 x 150 cm (79 x 59 in.)

List of finalists for the 2019 Luxembourg Art Prize

Fosca Boggi

▸ Age 58, Italy, merchant
Inspiration: Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat

"Pony Rock", 2018, molding technique entirely in glazed ceramic, assembled without glue and therefore can be fully disassembled, 52 x 65 x 38 cm (20 x 26 x 15 in.)

Sara Bomans

▸ Age 37, Belgium, graphic arts teacher
Inspiration: Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois, Sophie Calle, Hans Op de Beeck, Michael Borremans, Rinus van de Velde

"I used to be sexy #5", 2018, human hair sewn to waxed paper, 32 x 26,7 cm (12.5 x 10.5 in.)

Jenna Hobbs

▹ Age 34, Alberta (Canada), stay-at-home mom
Inspiration: Norman Rockwell, Sally Mann, Kirsten Lewis, Joy Prouty

"Mama tried", 2019, photograph, 57 x 84 cm (22 x 33 in.)

Yannick Ilito Betofe

▸ 28 years old, Belgium & Congo (Kinshasa)
Inspiration: Caravaggio, Francis Bacon, Jenny Saville, Lucian Freud, Marlene Dumas, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Jérôme Zonder, Leonard Cohen, Sarah kane, Henri Michaux, Andrei Tarkovsky, Tomas Tranströmer, Fabienne Verdier

"Ida", 2015, Acrylic on paper, 107 x 126.5 cm (42 x 50 in.)

Clay Johnson

▸ 55 years old, USA (Wyoming)
Inspiration: Agnes Martin, Brice Marden, Diego Velázquez, Edgar Degas, Frank Auerbach, Franz Kline, Kasimir Malevich, Mark Rothko, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Richard Diebenkorn, Richard Serra, Vincent van Gogh, Willem de Kooning, Édouard Vuillard, Robert Natkin

"Box Out", 2019, acrylic on aluminum panel, 122 x 122 cm (48 x 48 in.)

Martin Lyonnet

▸ 31 years old, France
Inspiration: Aaron Siskind, Daniel Buren, Egon Schiele, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pablo Picasso, Jacques Villeglé, Chaïm Soutine, Oscar Munoz, Carlos Cruz-Diez

"10h44", 2019, paint and collage, 161 x 114 cm (63 x 45 in.)

Adele Razkövi

▸ 41 years old, Austria
Inspiration: Eadweard Muybridge, Leonardo da Vinci, Art Brut, Eduardo Roca, Frederique Edy

"Collective Intelligence", 2018, wire and metal mesh, variable dimensions

Jon Setter

▸ 29 years old, Australia (New South Wales) & USA (Michigan)
Inspiration: Aaron Siskind, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Ellsworth Kelly, Michael Wolf, Piet Mondrian, Richard Diebenkorn, Stephen Shore, Thomas Struth, Yoshinori Mizutani, Andrea Grutzner, Todd Eberle, Gerry Johansson

"An Intersection of Lines and Colours", 2018, photograph, 130 x 90 cm (51 x 35 in.)

Izumi Ueda Yuu

▸ 71 years old, Japan & Portugal
Inspiration: Christian Boltanski, Claes Oldenburg, Kiki Smith, Louise Bourgeois, Philip Guston

"The Passage", 2019, sumi ink on paper, 198 x 210 cm (78 x 83 in.)

Duncan Wylie

▸ Age 44, United Kingdom & Zimbabwe
Inspiration: David Hockney, El Greco, Georg Baselitz, Gerhard Richter, Howard Hodgkin, Willem de Kooning, Gordon Matta Clark, Robert Smithson

"Undercurrent (Johannesburg/Londres)", 2018, oil and alkyd on canvas, 171 x 220 cm (67 x 87 in.)

Jenny Ymker

▸ 50 years old, Netherlands
It was her third submission to the Luxembourg Art Prize!
Inspiration: Cindy Sherman, Francesca Woodman, Grayson Perry, Louise Bourgeois

"Vervlogen (Bygone)", 2018, tapestry woven in the Gobelins style, wool and cotton, 193 x 291 cm (76 x 114 in.)

List of finalists for the 2018 Luxembourg Art Prize

Tsuyu Bridwell

▹ 51 years old, Japan & France
Sources of Inspiration: Alexander Calder, Andy Goldsworthy, Edward Hopper, Gabriel Orozco, Henri Matisse, Jean-Michel Othoniel, John Baldessari, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

"Wave", 2018. Cotton paper, ink, Swarovski crystals, sterling silver leaf. 70 x 210 cm (28 x 83 in.)

Lúcia Costa

▹ 57 years old, Brazil
Specialty: Acrylic paint
Sources of Inspiration: El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, M. C. Escher, Theo van Doesburg, Vik Muniz, Vincent van Gogh

"Tons de azul" ("Shades of blue"), 2016. Acrylic on canvas. 160 x 120 cm (63 x 47 in.)

Alexis Couzino

▸ 26 years old, Canada (Quebec)
Sources of Inspiration: Damien Hirst, David LaChapelle, Jeff Koons
Specialty: Performance, photography, print media.

"Mirages 5", 2018. Performance, photography, digital collage, print media. 152 x 102 cm (60 x 40 in.)

Anna Herrgott

▸ 35 years old, Germany
Sources of Inspiration: Orlan, Vanessa Beecroft

"Marquardt", 2015. Nails and string on printed photographs. 3 panels, each 45 x 35 cm (18 x 14 in.). Edition 3/3

Shawn Huckins

▸ 34 years old, USA (Colorado)
Specialty: Painting
Sources of Inspiration: David Hockney, Edward Ruscha, George Caleb Bingham, Gilbert Stuart, John Singleton Copley, Richard Estes, Wayne Thiebaud

"Nothing Rhymes with Orange" (George Washington, White House Art Collection Erasure No. 5), 2018. Acrylic on canvas. 81 x 66 cm (32 x 26 in.)

Hanna Margetson-Rushmore

▸ 22 years old, United Kingdom & USA
Sources of Inspiration: Agnes Martin, Eva Hesse, On Kawara, Sol LeWitt
Specialty: Drawing on paper

"Mark Field", 2018. Drawing on Strathmore paper, pen. 56 x 76 cm (22 x 30 in.)

Noah James Saunders

▹ 38 years old, USA (Georgia)
Specialty: wire sculpture
Sources of Inspiration: Alexander Calder, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso

"Your Muse Is a Bitch", 2017. Wire sculpture, galvanized steel wire, wire mesh. 122 x 132 x 5 cm (48 x 52 x 2 in.)

Eugenio Schirone

▸ 17 years old, Italy
Sources of Inspiration: Hieronymus Bosch, Paolo Uccello
Specialty: Digital Photography

"L'Eterno E Il Temporale" ("The Eternal and the Temporal"), 2018. Digital photograph on paper. 40 x 186 cm (16 x 73 in.). Triptych

Ritu Binhay Sinha

▸ 42 years old, India
Sources of Inspiration: Edvard Munch, Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin
Specialty: Painting on paper and mixed media

"My First Day in This World" (Set of 16 pieces), 2018. Painting, knitting and various materials on paper. 38 x 28 cm (15 x 11 in.) X 16 pieces

Ludovic Thiriez

▹ 34 years old, Hungary & France
Sources of Inspiration: Adrian Ghenie, Albert Oehlen, Cecily Brown, Gerhard Richter, Marlene Dumas, Maurizio Cattelan, Michaël Borremans, Neo Rauch, Peter Doig

"The Boy from the Neighborhood", 2018. Acrylic, ink, oil on linen. 140 x 170 cm (55 x 67 in.)

Géraldine Tobé

▸ 26 years old, Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
Sources of Inspiration: Christian Boltanski

"Untitled", 2018. Paint and smoke on canvas. 200 x 190 cm (79 x 75 in.)

Wen Meng-Yu (温孟瑜)

▸ 31 years old, Taiwan
Sources of Inspiration: David Hockney, Peter Doig, René Magritte

"This Day", 2017. Acrylic on canvas, silkscreen. 100 x 80 cm (39 x 31 in.)

List of finalists for the 2017 Luxembourg Art Prize

Maria Eugenia Gamiño Cruz

▸ 56 years old, Mexico
Specialty: Sculpture
Sources of Inspiration: Alexander Calder, Andy Goldsworthy, Anthony Caro, Antony Gormley, Carl Andre, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Gabriel Orozco, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois

"Encuadre De Distintos Tiempos" (Frame Representing Different Moments), 2014, Mixed media (wood, washers and branches). 93 cm x 114 cm x 16 cm (37 x 45 x 6 in.)

Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė

▸ 40 years old, Lithuania
Specialty: Sculpture in cross-stitch on metal
Sources of Inspiration: Banksy, Jeff Koons, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois

"Donald Bubble Gum", 2016. Drilling, welding, cross-stitch, 4 old metal buckets, cotton, various chewing gum papers under glass frame. 120 cm x 600 cm x 40 cm (47 x 236 x 16 in.)

Jarik Jongman

▸ 55 years old, Netherlands
Specialty: Painting
Sources of Inspiration: Adrian Ghenie, Anselm Kiefer, Peter Doig

"It’s Gonna Be Great, It’s Gonna Be Fantastic", 2017. Oil, acrylic, tar, plaster, and gold leaf on panel. 180 x 244 cm (71 x 96 in.)

Vladimir Kartashov (Владимир Карташов)

▸ 20 years old, Russia
Specialty: Oil painting
Sources of Inspiration: Diego Rivera, El Greco, Giorgio de Chirico

"Фантомы прошедших эпох" ("Fantasies of Past Eras"), 2016. Oil on canvas. 160 x 120 cm (63 x 47 in.)

Jennifer Krause Chapeau

▸ 55 years old, USA (New Jersey)
Sources of Inspiration: Alice Neel, Anselm Kiefer, Chantal Joffe, Eric Fischl, Fairfield Porter, George Bellows, Gerhard Richter, Gustave Caillebotte, Gustav Klimt, John Singer Sargent, Lois Dodd, Neil Welliver, Rackstraw Downes, Vincent van Gogh, Yvonne Jacquette

"Colza Field II", 2015. Oil on canvas. 66 x 87 cm (26 x 34 in.)

Jeppe Lauge

▸ 37 years old, Denmark & the Netherlands
Specialty: Painting
Sources of Inspiration: Adrian Ghenie, David Hockney, Peder Severin Krøyer, Peter Doig

"Rolling Hills", 2017. Oil on canvas, 190 x 230 cm (75 x 91 in.)

Sali Muller

▸ 36 years old, Luxembourg
Specialty: Installation, Sculpture
Sources of Inspiration: Mona Hatoum, Tracey Emin

"Verschiebung der Wirklichkeit" ("Change of reality"), 2017. Mirror and cut frame. 102 x 98 x 4 cm (40 x 39 x 2 in.)

Alexandra de Pinho

▸ 40 years old, Portugal
Specialty: Fabric, stitched thread, and watercolor on paper
Sources of Inspiration: Ellen Gallagher, Louise Bourgeois, Lygia Clark, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Robert Rauschenberg, Shirin Neshat

"Cartas Dispersas I" ("Scattered Letters I"), 2017. Fabric, sewn lines and watercolor on paper. 50 x 100 cm (20 x 39 in.)

Steeven Salvat

▹ 26 years old, France
Specialty: Rotring and India ink drawing on paper, antique engraving
Sources of Inspiration: Albrecht Dürer, Gustave Doré, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Leonardo da Vinci

"Mentonapodes", 2017. Rotring and India ink on Canson paper washed with black tea. 29 x 41 cm (11 x 16 in.)

René Seifert

▸ 36 years old, Germany
Sources of Inspiration: Gerhard Richter, Jackson Pollock, Pierre Huyghe, Rosemarie Trockel, Paul Klee, Alexander McQueen, Sterling Ruby, Christopher Wool, Autechre, Superflex, Santiago Sierra, Allan Turing, Immanuel Kant, Husserl, Wittgenstein, John Berger, Marcuse, Hannah Ahrendt, Foucault, Bourdieux, Einstein, Hawking Uvm

"TRA n EC (4)", 2016. Lacquer on transparent polyester film & aluminum. 180 x 135 cm (71 x 53 in.)

Lalula Vivenzi

▹ 31 years old, Colombia & Italy
Specialty: Photography
Sources of Inspiration: Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, M. C. Escher, Marina Abramović, Sandro Botticelli, Yayoi Kusama

"Fosa común" ("Common Pit"), 2016. Digital photography. Edition 1/3. 106 x 150 cm (42 x 59 in.)

Muhammad Z Zaman

▹ 26 years old, USA (New Jersey)
Specialty: Painting & calligraphy
Sources of Inspiration: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko

"Darkness and Light", 2016. Acrylic on canvas. 91 x 61 cm (36 x 24 in.)

List of finalists for the 2016 Luxembourg Art Prize

Alexei A. Izmaylov

▸ Age 31, Russia and the UK
Speciality: mixed media
Inspiration: Asger Jorn, Cy Twombly, Donald Judd, Edward Ruscha, Erwin Wurm, Francis Bacon, Franz West, Guy Bourdin, Hans Haacke, John Baldessari, Juergen Teller, Marcel Duchamp, Marlene Dumas, Ryan McGinley, Sarah Lucas, Thomas Ruff

"Untitled (Fig. 2)", 2016, mixed media on canvas, 120 x 100 cm, unique

Renata Franzky

▹ Age 47, Germany
Speciality: painting
Inspiration: Anselm Kiefer, Caravaggio, El Greco, Lucian Freud, Maria Lassnig, Max Beckmann

"Anuntiatio en Supermercado", 2016, acrylic on canvas, 170 x 135 cm, unique

Jaeyeol Han

▸ Age 33, South Korea
Speciality: painting
Inspiration: Jenny Saville, Paul Cézanne, Peter Paul Rubens, Willem de Kooning

"Passersby, Unmask", 2013, oil on canvas, 91 x 73 cm, unique

John Haverty

▸ Age 29, USA (Massachusetts)
Specialities: painting, drawing
Inspiration: Dieric Bouts, Hieronymus Bosch, Salvador Dalí

"Circus", 2015, "Gangrene" series, ink and watercolour on paper, 120 x 120 cm, unique

Bartosz Kołata

▸ Age 37, Poland and Germany
Speciality: painting
Inspiration: Ambrosius Holbein, Andrzej Wróblewski, David Hockney, Jan van Eyck, Marlene Dumas

"Chandelier", 2016, oil on canvas, 60 x 60 cm, unique

Maurice Mbikayi

▸ Age 42, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa
Specialities: video, sculpture
Inspiration: Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Marcel Duchamp, Yinka Shonibare

"Web Jacket", 2015, digital video, 9 minutes, edition of 5 + 3 artist proofs

Graciana Piaggio

▹ Age 45, Argentina
Speciality: photography
Inspiration: Adriana Lestido, Frank Auerbach, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Joel Meyerowitz, Josef Sudek, Minor White, Nicolas de Staël, Richard Diebenkorn, Rinko Kawauchi, Sally Mann, Willem de Kooning

"The burden of time", 2006-2016, 20 fine-art prints on baryta paper, 40 x 60 cm each, 200 x 350 cm together, edition of 12

Jose Sierra Vega

▸ Age 26, Colombia
Speciality: photography
Inspiration: Felix Gonzales-Torres, George Platt Lynes, Gilbert & George, Marcel Duchamp, Nan Goldin, Robert Mapplethorpe, Wilhelm von Gloeden

"Sans titre", 2016, self-portrait, fine-art print on baryta paper, 100 x 80 cm, unique

Melissa Vandenberg

▸ Age 38, USA (Kentucky)
Speciality: sculpture
Inspiration: Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Louise Bourgeois, Shirin Neshat, Yinka Shonibare

"Sink or Swim: Family Style", 2012, life jackets, American flags, wood, 122 x 43 x 61 cm, unique

Simon Vienne

▸ Age 24, France
Speciality: photography
Second entry to the Luxembourg Art Prize (2015, 2016)
Inspiration: Andreas Gursky, Gregory Crewdson, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Josef Koudelka, Peter Lindbergh, Philippe Halsman, Sebastião Salgado, Stephen Shore, Steve McCurry, Vivian Maier, William Klein, Willy Ronis

"Soccer Time", 2015, fine-art print on baryta paper, edition of 3

List of finalists for the 2015 Luxembourg Art Prize

June Allen

▸ 52 years old, Franco-American. Born in the USA. Lives in France

"Triptych", 2015, cut-up writing on the creative process reconstituted at random and stuck behind tracing paper between two panes of glass, 67 x 29 cm (3 panels)