The PinchukArtCentre Presents the Exhibition of 21 Shortlisted Artists For the Future Generation Art Prize 2012 and the Two Weeks One Summer, the solo exhibition of Damien Hirst, the Mentor Artist of the Future Generation Art Prize

The PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv, Ukraine) presents exhibition of the 21 shortlisted artists for the second edition of the Future Generation Art Prize, the first global art prize for artists up to 35, founded by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in December 2009. The exhibition opened from November 3, 2012 till January 6, 2013 focuses on the presentation of newly produced works and gives a chance for nominated artists to show off their most advanced positions. It offers a remarkable view on the new tendencies and artistic practices of the next generation of artists.

The Main Prize Winner receiving $100,000, will be announced at the Award Ceremony on December 7, 2012 by an international distinguished jury in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Shortlisted artists represent 16 different countries. They have been selected from more than 4,000 applications received from 134 countries spread across all continents. The artists were nominated by 7 members of the Selection Committee, competent and global art-professionals who were suggested by the members of the Jury.

The shortlist of theFuture Generation Art Prize 2012includes: Jonathas de Andrade, 30 (Brazil), Meris Angioletti, 34 (Italy), Marwa Arsanios, 33 (Lebanon), Micol Assael, 33 (Italy), Abigail DeVille, 30 (United States), Aurelien Froment, 35 (France), Mykyta Kadan,29 (Ukraine), Meiro Koizumi, 35 (Japan), Andre Komatsu, 33 (Brazil), Eva Kotatkova, 29 (Czech Republic), Tala Madani, 30 (Iran), Basim Magdy, 34 (Egypt), Ahmet Ogut, 30 (Turkey), Amalia Pica, 33 (Argentina), Agnieszka Polska, 27 (Poland), Emily Roysdon, 34 (United States), Rayyane Tabet, 28 (Lebanon), Yan Xing, 26 (China), Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, 34 (United Kingdom), and two groups: Joao Maria Gusmao + Pedro Paiva, 33, 34 (Portugal), and R.E.P. (Ukraine).

Mykyta Kadan, the winner of the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2011, the first national contemporary art prize awarded to young Ukrainian artists, became the 21^st nominee for the Future Generation Art Prize.

The PinchukArtCentre also presents the solo exhibition of Damien Hirst, the Mentor Artist of the Future Generation Art Prize. For Two Weeks One Summer show embedded into the context of the second edition of the Future Generation Art Prize, Hirst presents a series of eleven dynamic new paintings he has been working on since summer of 2010.

Damien Hirst’s new works have been painted from life in his Devon studio. They are varying in size, from more intimate canvases to large-size paintings. They can be seen as traditional still-life, with a strong element of memento mori, depicting an array of carefully arranged elements, both natural and inanimate, alongside objects and formal devices that have made their appearance in Hirst’s sculptures and installations before. Birds, butterflies and flower blossoms with their bright colours suggest a sense of pure joy which often is countered by more sinister symbols, such as a shark’s gaping jawbone.

Some objects are painted with clarity and impasto; others appear hazy and faint, as if they were somehow more insubstantial, part of a sudden apparition or dream-like vision. Often Hirst has decided to keep the lines of the original drawings visible, sometimes combining them with a grid of white spots. In this way he suggests an underlying formal order to the arrangements of objects, fauna and flora.

Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andreas Gursky and Takashi Murakami are Mentor Artists for the Future Generation Art Prize, providing advice and support for the winning artist. According to the concept of the Prize one of the Mentor artists has a parallel show at the same time as exhibition of the 21 shortlisted artists of the Future Generation Art Prize. In 2009 the exhibition of Takashi Murakami was coinciding with the first edition of the Future Generation Art Prize.

On the 5th floor the PinchukArtCentre also continues presenting Collection Platform 3: Forever Now show, a comprehensive selection of eight artists, highlighting central work groups presented in a space devoted to each artist. The exhibition is located on the 5^th floor of the art centre.

The show represents a dynamic combination of leading artists of today including Olafur Eliasson, Andreas Gursky, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Boris Mikhailov, Takashi Murakami, together with representatives of the new generation: the winner of the first edition of the PinchukArtCentre Prize Artem Volokytin and the winner of the Future Generation Art Prize Cinthia Marcelle.

The exhibitions are on display from Nov 3, 2012 till Jan 6, 2013.
Opening hours: 12:00 – 21:00, Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Mondays. Admission is free.

Official website of the Future Generation Art Prize: www.futuregenerationartprize.org