Presenting the 2022 ECC Awards
Like every edition, the European Cultural Centre presents the ECC Awards to commemorate the closing of the exhibition and to honour the participants that haven taken part in it
Photo credits: Riccardo Sottoriva
During the Closing Event on Sunday 27th of November, 2022, ECC Italy announced the winners and special mentions of this year’s ECC Awards, which were carefully selected by the European Cultural Centre curatorial team. The winners received the unique award of the artwork “1 meter” by the Dutch artist René Rietmeyer, initiator of the project Personal Structures and of the European Cultural Centre itself. The nominees were selected for the categories of: painting and mixed media, sculpture and installation, photography, video and digital art, and university research projects and lifetime achievement.
For the category of PAINTING AND MIXED MEDIA, the ECC Award goes to Galerie Myrtis for their installation The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined at Palazzo Mora, awarded for its interdisciplinary and multilayered presentation that meditates on constructing a future focused on African Art and Afrofuturism's ideology, and expands in depth on the notion of Blackness at the intersection of mixed media.
The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined by Galerie Myrtis | Photo credits: Federico Vespignani
The two special mentions go to Donald Martiny represented by Madison Gallery in recognition of the inventive and innovative work that respects and establishes a dialogue with academic art masters of the past; and Ariela Wertheimer for the sensitivity and capacity of connecting the landscape to the body, the physical to the spiritual, and memories to reality.
Special mention to Donald Martiny | Photo credits: Chiara Becattini & Riccardo Sottoriva
Special mention to Ariela Wertheimer | Photo credits: Riccardo Sottoriva
For the category SCULPTURE AND INSTALLATION, the ECC Award goes to Jacques Jarrige represented by Valerie Goodman Gallery in New York for the elegant and precious research on materials and shapes through the combination of video, showing the process behind the artwork, and the result in the showcased sculpture The Idol at Palazzo Mora.
'The Idol' by Jacques Jarrige | Photo credits: Federico Vespignani
The two special mentions go to Albert Scopin whose work investigates the use of a very unconventional material, that is asphalt, to create impressive installations. His works reflect upon major issues such as pollution, loss of habitats and global warming. And a special and warm mention to the work of Chandragupta Thenuara whose work titled Covert invited all of us to get lost in his unique and universal vortex of symbols. His work raises awareness on the social contemporary issues of Sri Lanka in comparison to the global panorama.
Albert Scopin
'Covert' by Chandragupta Thenuara
For the category PHOTOGRAPHY, the ECC Award goes to Alissa Everett for the stunning beauty and the powerful stories in her installation Covering Beauty at Palazzo Bembo, stories she has captured through her lens and her gaze, for her courage while travelling in rough areas all over the world and her capacity of documenting the truth, giving an answer to the increasing need for a meaningful and honest narrative.
'Covering Beauty' by Alissa Everett | Photo credits: Chiara Dalla Rosa
The two special mentions go to Sandra Cattaneo Adorno for the extraordinary capacity of capturing the intense beauty of everyday life through the harmony of the human bodies with a talented and sensible sight, and Elizabeth Heyert for presenting records of people who have been encouraged to examine their essential self, either by going deeply inward or, freed by hypnosis, accessing a hidden, subconscious world. Her projects Metamorphosis and Bound delve beneath the constructed facades we all present to the world and propose another level of self-reflection.
Sandra Cattaneo Adorno
Elizabeth Heyert
For the category VIDEO AND DIGITAL ART, the ECC Award goes to Helen Kirwan for honouring Personal Structures with her precious project Grief- Work, a metaphorical journey into the themes of loss, memory and temporality through the mourning traditions of Ancient Greece and the Middle East mythology. Helen was, once more, able to lead a reflection through her performances upon cultural collective memory and how it is constantly nourished by rituals, practices, actions which at the end shape the identity of each society.
Helen Kirwan installation | Photo credits: Federico Vespignani
A special mention for Carrie Able and her multidisciplinary project Dall’Anima, which goes beyond the classical fine art practice and extends the souls of the artworks through the use of Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality. And to Superchief Gallery who has dedicated themselves to presenting digital Art to a large audience worldwide. Superchief Gallery defends a new form of cultural exchange and especially presents artists whose works are not limited to traditional art forms.
Carrie Able
Superchief Gallery
For the category UNIVERSITY AND RESEARCH PROJECT, the ECC Award goes to the project a Library, a Classroom, and the World by the University of New Mexico together with Davidson College for having created a project which represents a successful attempt of involving the city of Venice with its culture, traditions and territory. A genuine proof of interaction and a smart application of art in the field of ecology.
Photo credits: Riccardo Sottoriva
The two special go to Geraldine Ondrizek & Reed College in recognition of the care in selecting artists' books of immense value and quality making possible for the public to see a rare and unique collection. Furthermore, the award has been assigned for the foresight in investing energies and resources on talented and young students; and to the University of Applied Arts Vienna for having completed the installation with a rich and stimulating program of initiatives, events and inspiring discussions that have enriched the participants with knowledge and inspiration.
Geraldine Ondrizek/Reed College
University of Applied Art Vienna | Photo credits: Chiara Becattini & Riccardo Sottoriva
The special award for LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT goes to the dear Lawrence Weiner, who passed away nearly one year ago on the 2nd of December. The ECC Award for Art is posthumously awarded to Lawrence Weiner (USA), for his lifelong dedication to use written language as means of expression as contemporary art. Lawrence Weiner is an American conceptual artist. In his works, Weiner not only uses written words in English, but in several other languages as well. Weiner especially explores the meaning of language and the way it can be used to communicate through written text. In addition, his art raises and answers questions about the concept of art itself.