ars viva 2022
In Dialogue with the Brücke-Museum’s Collection

This year, the Brücke-Museum presents ars viva 2022. Since 1953, the ars viva prize has been awarded by the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft to outstanding young artists based in Germany. This year’s winners are Tamina Amadyar (b. 1989 in Kabul, Afghanistan), Lewis Hammond (b. 1987 in Wolverhampton, UK), and Mooni Perry (b. 1990 in Seoul, South Korea).

The jury of the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft made the following statement:

“Tamina Amadyar’s paintings combine studies of colour and form with moments of her own perception. In her paintings, she recalls the places she has been, particularly focusing on the experiences of light and space she has encountered on her travels to places like Afghanistan or California. Her often large-format paintings frequently place two colours in dialogue with one another. Her colour studies play with complementary contrast, overpainting, and geometrical forms. Using pigments mixed with rabbit-skin glue, Amadyar creates strikingly luminous colour fields that are applied in rapid strokes, giving her paintings space and structure.

Lewis Hammond’s muted and earthy-toned paintings reveal sites of dystopian liminality. Hammond stages everyday scenes, some based on personal events, in the style of baroque painting. The works include representations of people from Hammond’s private sphere as well as mental images of past encounters. On the border between surrealism and magical realism, ancient symbolic forms emerge and transfigure in connection with personal experiences. In this way, Hammond uses historical painting techniques to create contemporary artworks that offer a glimpse into the artist’s vast and complex image-worlds.

Mooni Perry’s artistic practice is informed by her investigations of human-animal studies, veganism, and (Asian-)feminism. Her research critically explores the intersections between these subjects and finds artistic expression in film-based works and installations. Her videos feature references to Korean poetry and theory as well as the use of vocal or instrumental performances. Perry combines interview sequences and documentary material with ambiguous representations of 3D-animated characters, thereby creating multi-layered video works.”

The works of the three artists will be shown in dialogue with works by the Brücke artists. The integration of contemporary discourses with the Brücke-Museum’s collection will also be explored further in ars viva 2022.

More information about the award can be found here.

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An accompanying bilingual catalogue by the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft will be published by Kerber Verlag.

ars viva 2022 is a cooperation between the Brücke-Museum and the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft.

The Brücke-Museum is an official partner of Berlin Art Week (15–19 September 2021).

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