PRIX DE ROME.NL

This year De Appel is hosting the Prix de Rome for the first time. The organisation of the prize has recently undergone important changes, the most notable of which is that the separate disciplines have been abolished. From now on the Prix de Rome is awarded every two years for all types of art and participation is open to all artists under the age of thirty-five and resident in the Netherlands. The international jury - consisting of Saskia Bos (NL), Jean-Marc Bustamente (FR), Erika Hoffmann-Koenige (DE, chairwoman), Suchan Kinoshita (JP/NL), Michael Raedecker (NL/GB), with Janwillem Schrofer (NL) as secretary - has the difficult task of comparing works from a variety of disciplines. PRIX DE ROME.NL is an exhibition with a variety of work which shows very well how young artists are dealing with urgent topics within art in a personal way. In doing this they make use of various media. The exhibition reveals how a conceptual approach takes shape in an impressionistic or confrontational manner. Moreover, these artists are also challenging how we experience reality. But shape is also given to the observing gaze and the critical spirit that engages with prevailing viewpoints within visual culture and the discovery of the special in the everyday. All these artists are inventive spirits seeking new images to surprise the viewer. In mid-April 2005 the jury met for an interim adjudication. In the second half of June they met again, in the exhibition, for the final decision. During the award ceremony on 30 June, the following decision was made known: Lonnie van Brummelen: first prize of € 45,000, Yael Bartana: second prize of € 20,000, Esther Tielemans and Kan Xuan: two basic prizes of € 10.000. Besides the presentation of the work of the four nominees, De Appel has also added to the exhibition work by five other artists on the longlist. The public can thus peruse this work as well and form its own opinion about the decisions made by the jury. The longlist artists are Marc Bijl, Raymond Taudin Chabot, Guido van der Werve, Barbara Wijnveld and Praneet Soi.