The winners of this year’s Aesthetica Art Prize have been announced during a ceremony at York Art Gallery.
Canadian artist Adam Basanta was awarded the main prize of £5,000 for his piece Curtain (White).
The sound installation explores the white earbud headphone, an everyday device that creates an interior environment that offers a retreat from the external world.
Basanta’s work features a 3m long ‘curtain’ made up of the headphones which sections the gallery space visually and sonically, with the sound produced evoking waves, wind, rain, and insects.
London-based artist Maryam Tafakory received the emerging art prize of £1,000 for her part-moving image, part-performance, Absent Wound.
The work focuses on the rituals of Persian warrior training, seen in combination with the recitations of a young girl coming to terms with her impending womanhood.
Cherie Federico, director of the Aesthetica Art Prize, described the work in the exhibition as “an inspiring collection of innovative projects by some of today’s leading artists”.
The other artists in the prize exhibition are: Adam Niklewicz, Alinka Echeverría, breadedEscalope, Dylan Martinez, Emmanuelle Moureaux, Jasmina Cibic, Judith Jones, Julio Bittencourt, Lesley Hilling, Sara Morawetz, Stanza, Stephen Johnston, Toby Dye and Webb-Ellis.
Previous finalists include John Keane, the former official British war artist; Julia Vogl, shortlisted for Saatchi Gallery and Channel 4′s New Sensations; and Ingrid Hu, former designer at Heatherwick Studio.
The Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition continues at York Art Gallery until 10 September 2017
Images:
1. Adam Basanta, Curtain (White). Courtesy: Aesthetica Art Prize
2. Maryam Tafakory, Absent Wound. Courtesy: Aesthetica Art Prize
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