The winners of fifth edition of the Jerwood/FVU Awards have been announced as Maeve Brennan and Imran Perretta.
The two artists, who are both within the first five years of their practice, will both receive £20,000 to develop new moving-image works. Their finished films will then be shown from 6 April to 3 June 2018 at Jerwood Space, London, before touring across the UK.
The 2018 curatorial theme is ‘Unintended Consequences’, addressing how the best-laid plans can unravel and well-intentioned actions can provoke unexpected side-effects.
This is reflected in Maeve Brennan’s proposed work which considers the effects of wind turbines in the larger ecosystem. The London and Beirut-based artist’s project will highlight how the rhythms and patterns of the natural environment are intricately connected and interdependent.
London-based artist Imran Perretta’s work will look at how social and geopolitical upheaval has prompted the mass displacement and migration of people across the globe.
His film will focus on how the face of the refugee has often been dehumanised and anonymised by contrasting the personal testimony of asylum seekers with public perception and popular iconography.
Brennan and Perretta were selected from over 170 applications by a panel including: Noor Afshan Mirza, artist and co-founder of no.w.here; George Vasey, currently working as a curator on the Turner Prize 2017 and curatorial fellow at Newcastle University; Steven Bode, director, FVU; and Sarah Williams, head of programme, Jerwood Visual Arts.
Vasey said: “Both these artists make serious art for serious times, and I’m hugely excited to see what they can do with the money and support from FVU and Jerwood Charitable Foundation at a formative moment in their careers.”
Recipients of the past four editions of the Jerwood/FVU Awards include 2013 winner Ed Atkins, who had his first solo exhibition at MoMA, New York, that same year, and has gone on to exhibit at Serpentine Gallery and Kunsthalle Zurich.
2015 winner Marianna Simnett has also exhibited at Serpentine Gallery and Seventeen, New York, and has been included in group shows at CAC, Shanghai; Connecting Spaces, Hong Kong; and CCA, Glasgow.
2017 winner Lawrence Lek – who is featured in this year’s a-n Degree Shows Guide – has participated in group shows at Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing; HyperPavilion, Venice; and Hull UK City of Culture.
Brennan and Perretta’s finished films will be shown from 6 April to 3 June 2018 at Jerwood Space, London, before touring across the UK. www.jerwoodfvuawards.com
Images:
1. Imran Perretta, DESH, (HD video still), 2016. Courtesy: the artist
2. Maeve Brennan, Jerusalem Pink, (video still), 2015. Courtesy: the artist.
3. Imran Perretta, brother to brother, (HD video still), 2017. Commissioned for Jerwood Solo Presentations 2017, supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation. Courtesy: the artist
More on a-n.co.uk:
More general election 2017 news
Free Market thinking: arts, organising and alternatives to neoliberalism
A Q&A with… Kimathi Donkor, Diaspora Pavilion artist at Venice Biennale 2017
