Frieze Artist Award 2016

The winning commission will be presented as part of Frieze Projects, the fair’s celebrated non-profit programme established in 2003, and curated by the newly appointed Raphael Gygax. Frieze Projects and the Frieze Artist Award are supported by the LUMA Foundation.

Entrance to the Award is by open submission. Proposals should be new works that respond to the dynamic environment of the London fair, and applicants will be evaluated on the innovative nature of their proposal and its potential for realization. Produced under the guidance of Curator Raphael Gygax and the Frieze Projects team, the Award will include a budget of up to 20,000 GBP for production, research and development, artist fees and travel expenses.

The closing date for applications is February 10, 2016 at 5pm GMT. Proposals will be reviewed by a selection panel including Marvin Gaye Chetwynd (artist), Beatrix Ruf (Director, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam) and Bettina Steinbrügge (Director, Kunstverein Hamburg), chaired by Jo Stella-Sawicka (Artistic Director, Frieze fairs). The winner will be announced in the Spring of 2016.

The 2015 Frieze Artist Award was awarded to New York-based artist Rachel Rose, who created a scale model of the fair structure, in which lighting and sound design simulated the sonic and visual sense frequencies of animals inhabiting The Regent’s Park. In 2014, the inaugural Frieze Artist Award was given to Mélanie Matranga, whose project A to B coffee explored economic and emotional exchange in a series of online videos and an on-site café-installation at Frieze London.

Now in its third year, the Frieze Artist Award sits within a rich history of artist awards presented at Frieze London, including the Emdash Award (2011–2013) and the Cartier Award (2006–2010), which have made possible ambitious new commissions by artists including Cécile B. Evans (2013), Simon Fujiwara (2010), Jordan Wolfson (2009) and Mario García Torres (2007), among others.

IMAGE: Rachel Rose, Frieze Artist Award 2015. Image courtesy of Frieze Projects 2015/Plastiques Photography.