In further awards news: Nissan Art Award and Brazil’s PIPA recipients announced
Four Golden Lions have been awarded posthumously this year to curators Okwui Enwezor (1963-2019), Germano Celant (1940-2020), historian Maurizio Calvesi (1927-2020) and architect Vittorio Gregotti (1927-2020), all of whom were responsible for editions of the exhibition from 1974 to 2015. Celant and Gregotti passed away earlier this year from COVID-19-related complications. The biennale’s highest accolade is traditionally reserved as a lifetime achievement award for participants in the show. ‘La Biennale was the laboratory where Calvesi, Celant, Enwezor and Gregotti expressed their original and visionary critical thinking which looked to the future, often anticipating it,’ biennale president Roberto Cicutto said in a statement.
The Shanghai-born, Tokyo-based artist Ishu Han is the Grand Prix winner of the Nissan Art Award 2020. Han’s work ‘succinctly yet vividly visualizes the feelings of confusion and solitude rampant in current society, transforming a personal experience into a universal and poetic statement,’ the jury said in a statement. Han’s piece where are you now (2020), comprising a sculpture and video installation, was produced by the artist at home under the COVID-19 lockdown. The other finalists included Sachiko Kazama, Soichiro Mihara, Nobuko Tsuchiya and Ei Wada.
And, the popular vote recipient of this year’s Brazilian PIPA Prize has been awarded to Isael Maxakali – the PIPA Online award recognises artists of indigenous origin, and those with less institutional presence. The PIPA 2020 finalists are Gê Viana, Maxwell Alexandre, Randolpho Lamonier and Renata Felinto.
