Belvedere Art Award 2022

An international jury selected Robert Gabris as the winner of the Belvedere Art Award 2022 on November 28, 2022. Local and international experts determined the prize winner: in a two-stage selection process, each of the five nomination jury members identified two emerging artists with a connection to Austria. A five-member selection jury then determined the winner of the award. Age, gender, and nationality did not play a role in the selection process. The Belvedere Art Award is endowed with 20,000 euros. In addition to the prize money, the award winner receives a solo exhibition at the Belvedere 21 and an accompanying publication. The solo show takes place from 7 September 2023 to 18 February 2024 at the Belvedere 21.

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Felicitas Thun Hohenstein, Charles Esche, Stella Rolig, Robert Gabris, Mahret Ifeoma, Kupka Ste
Photo: eSeL.at / Belvedere, Vienna

Jury statement

The selection of Robert Gabris was made for the artist’s impressively focused and engaged body of work. He draws intensively on his background in the Roma community, while constantly questioning the limits of identities imposed on individuals and groups from the outside. His art scrutinizes the condition of the human body, exploring its edges and forms in relation to queerness, more-than-human life, and multiple marginalizations. His visual language ranges from precise drawings to prose poems to layered sculptural combinations that revel in complexity while engaging diverse publics. His experimental drawings serve as a way to resist exclusion and racism while always remaining fluid and open to interpretation. The jury is also impressed by his commitment to community engagement and acknowledges the emotional labor that this requires. The jury is delighted to give this award to Robert Gabris unanimously and wishes him a joyful and successful exhibition at Belvedere 21 in September 2023.

 

Exhibition

Biography

Portrait Robert Gabris
Photo: Michal Blecha

 

Born in 1986 in Hnúšťa, Slovakia, Gabris studied costume and stage design at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (2006–10) and stage design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (2010–14). Selected solo exhibitions include Strabag Kunstform, Vienna, AT (2021); Villa Romana, Florence, IT (2021); Bunker del Castello di Udine, Udine, IT (2017); and Collective by Pure, Shanghai, CN (2015). In group exhibitions, his work has been shown at documenta fifteen in Kassel (as part of the Off Biennale Budapest), DE; at rotor in Graz, AT; Künstlerhaus Vienna, AT; Tent Rotterdam, NL; Württembergischer Kunstverein in Stuttgart, DE; the Bergen Assembly, NO; transit in Bratislava, SK; Landesgalerie Eisenstadt, AT; and Wien Museum, AT, among others. He has been an artist-in-residence at MeetFactory, Prague, CZ (2022); at K.A.I.R., Košice, SK (2021); and at Villa Romana, Florence, IT (2020), among others. He was awarded the following prizes: Jindřich Chalupecký Award, Brno, CZ (2021); Recognition Award, Strabag Art Award, Vienna, AT (2021); Belvedere Art Award, Vienna, AT (2022).

 

www.robertgabris.com

Nominated artists

Nominated artists

Rawan Almukhtar

(* 1991 Baghdad, Iraq)

Robert Gabris

(* 1986 Hnúšťa, Slovakia)

Sophie Gogl

(* 1992 Kitzbühel, Austria)

Julia S. Goodman

(* 1987 New York, USA)

Claudia Lomoschitz

(* 1987 Vienna, Austria)

Pouran Parvizi

(* 1989 Booshehr, Iran)

Marlies Pöschl

(* 1982 Salzburg, Austria)

Huda Takriti

(* 1990 Damascus, Syria)

Sophie Thun

(* 1985 Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

Nominating jury

Ivana Pilić

Co-director, D/ARTS, Vienna

Neda Hosseinyar

Co-president of the Austrian Association of Women Artists (VBKÖ)

Mirela Baciak

Curator steirischer herbst, Graz

Katharina Brandl

Artistic Director, Kunstraum Niederoesterreich, Vienna

Luca Lo Pinto

Artistic Director, MUSEO MACRO, Rome

Selection jury

Elena Agudio

Artistic Co-director, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin / upcoming Director (from December 2022), Villa Romana, Florence

Charles Esche

Director, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven

Mahret Ifeoma Kupka

Senior Curator, Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt am Main / founding member of the Neue Deutsche Museumsmacher*innen

Stella Rollig

General Director Belvedere, Vienna

Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein

Initiator, Belvedere Art Award / Professor, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna