The shortlist for this year’s Film London Jarman Award has been announced, with six artists up for the £10,000 prize. Now in its 12th year, the award celebrates ‘the boundary-pushing work of the UK’s foremost artist filmmakers’.
This year’s shortlisted artists are: Cécile B. Evans, Beatrice Gibson, Mikhail Karikis, Hetain Patel, Imran Perretta and Rehana Zaman.
Combining live action and digital animation to explore the value of emotions in contemporary society, Cécile B. Evans‘ work uses narrative to offer a range of different realities within a common space.
Last year the London-based artist exhibited at the Hayward Gallery as part of Art Night, London, as well as Glasgow International and Art Basel Hong Kong Film. Her exhibition ‘Amos’ World’ at Glasgow’s Tramway earlier this year featured a three-screen mock TV series viewed within a brutalist, sculptural installation.
The London-based artist Beatrice Gibson works with 16mm film and digital formats to examine community, creativity and motherhood as ways of living through times of political turmoil.
She has twice won the Rotterdam International Film Festival Tiger Award for short film and in 2013 was shortlisted for the 2013-15 Max Mara Art Prize for Women. In 2015 she won the 17th Baloise Art Prize, Art Basel. Earlier this year she presented two new, interconnected films for the exhibition ‘Crone Music’ at Camden Arts Centre.
With a focus on sound, the Greek/British artist Mikhail Karikis collaborates with individuals and communities located outside the context of contemporary art who are often pushed into economic and socio-geographic fringes. Based in London and Lisbon, he has a long-standing interest in the voice as a sculptural material and a socio-political agent.
London-based artist Hetain Patel often uses humour and the languages of popular culture to ‘highlight familiarity within the exotic’. He also works with photography, sculpture and performance. Recent solo shows have taken place at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, Manchester Art Gallery, and Tanzhaus Dusseldorf, Germany.
Jerwood/FVU Awards winner Imram Perretta‘s practice includes moving-image, sound, performance and poetry to address biopower, marginality and the (de)construction of cultural histories. Recent exhibitions include ‘5percent’ for Copenhagen Art Week, Denmark, and ‘Devotions’ at MOT International Project Space, London. He has also undertaken residencies at Somerset House Studios and Wysing Arts Centre.
Finally, London-based artist Rehana Zaman works predominantly with moving image to examine how social dynamics are produced and performed. In 2015 she was awarded a British Council research grant with Museo de Art Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, and she was previously a LUX Associate Artist in 2012–13. Recent solo exhibitions include Serpentine Projects, London, CCA, Glasgow, and ‘Material Art Fair IV’, Mexico City, Mexico.
Adrian Wootton OBE, chief executive of Film London and the British Film Commission said that this year’s shortlist is “a fantastic showcase of original work that seeks to question, alter and articulate the modern world around us by exploring prevalent topics such as environment, identity and consumerism.
“With practices ranging from puppetry and animation to dance and poetry, these artists highlight the breadth of creativity and craftsmanship that art-film has to offer, as well as its powerful ability to immerse and provoke audiences.”
This year’s jury included: Andrea Lissoni, senior curator, International Art (Film), Tate Modern and Film London Board Member; Iwona Blazwick OBE, director, Whitechapel Gallery; artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy; Melanie Keen, director, Inivia; and Tyrone Walker-Hebborn, director, Genesis Cinema.
Previous shortlisted artists include Laure Prouvost, Elizabeth Price, Monster Chetwynd, Duncan Campbell, James Richards, Charlotte Prodger, Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Luke Fowler, all of whom went on to be shortlisted or to win the Turner Prize.
The shortlisted artists’ work will be exhibited at ten major arts venues in Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow and Cardiff, before a special weekend of screenings, discussions and performances at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, 16 – 17 November 2019.
The winner of the 2019 Jarman Award will be announced on 25 November at the Barbican Centre.
Images:
1. Cécile B. Evans, Amos’ World: Episode Two, 2018, still from HD video 24 minutes 33 seconds
2. Beatrice Gibson, I HOPE I’M LOUD WHEN I’M DEAD, 2018, 16mm transferred to HD, courtesy of Laura Bartlett and LUX, London
3. Mikhail Karikis, Ain’t Got No Fear, 2016 (video still)
4. Hetain Patel, The Jump, 2015, film still
5. Imram Perretta, 15DAYS. Courtesy: the artist
6. Rehana Zaman, Sharla Shabana Sojourner Selena, 2016. Courtesy: the artist
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