Artists Ghita Skali, Jonas Staal, Josefin Arnell and Michael Tedja have been nominated for the Prix de Rome Visual Arts 2023. The Prix de Rome jury has selected these four artists for the shortlist for the prestigious incentive award for talented visual artists. The shortlist was announced today by the Mondriaan Fund, which organises and finances the Prix de Rome award.
The four nominees receive a working budget to create new work, which will go on display at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam from Saturday 14 October 2023. The jury will select the ultimate winner based on the new work. The winning artist will be rewarded with a € 40,000 contribution and the opportunity to participate in a residency of their choice.
The jury selected Skali, Staal, Arnell and Tedja from 321 artists who registered for the award. In a change to previous editions, no age limit was in place for applicants. The jury believes that each nominee shows great promise for the future. The selection of artists made in the framework of this edition stresses the idea that artistic relevance and urgency does not only depend on the development of new, unexpected ideas proposed by hitherto unknown artists but can also be found in a consistent artistic practice that is seen or shown in a new light and a changing context.
About the shortlist
Ghita Skali
Ghita Skali has a multidisciplinary practice that encompasses installations, videos and interventions. Ghita uses odd news, rumours and propaganda to disrupt institutional power structures, such as the Western contemporary art world, state oppression and government politics. Her work blends humour and critique, and reaches beyond the art world.
Jonas Staal
In his work, Jonas Staal explores the relationship between art, propaganda and democracy. The artist analyses and questions the world of today, and its dominant power regimes. Using artistic and theoretical manifestations – including public interventions, exhibitions, video studies and publications – Jonas simultaneously presents new democratic models to help create a more solidary world.
Josefin Arnell
Josefin Arnell’s primary medium is film, but she often diverges into physical disciplines including drawing, performance and installation art. Her work straddles the boundary between documentary and fiction, with protagonists finding their way in a contemporary world with impossible demands. Josefin often uses personages without acting experience in her films, capturing the rawness of unattainable desire, perfectionism and control.
Michael Tedja
Michael Tedja has a multidisciplinary practice that combines images and text in paintings, drawings, poetry and installations. His work is expressive and conceptual at the same time. It is bursting with symbolism and autobiographical elements. Michael’s work often takes the form of a series, either intimate or monumental in size. Unexpected elements of collage and assemblage frequently return in his work.