MARTIN RAINER PRIZE
The South Tyrolean Artists’ Association and the Rainer family are for the first time offering a prize, worth €8,900 euros, in recognition of artists. Special attention will be paid to the interaction of space, form and content. The prize is not limited to the plastic arts, but is deliberately open to all disciplines, whether alone or in combination. The initiative underlying its creation is dedicated to the promotion and visualisation of those design concepts that are anchored in the artistic work of Martin Rainer.
Martin Rainer understood his art as design that would create space and meaning.
In formal terms, as a sculptor, he was not only concerned with the creation of solid volumes, but in particular with the interaction between the body and the surrounding space. An artwork never ends at the boundaries of the solid matter, but projects into space, thus reshaping and redefining it. The form of Martin Rainer’s artistic creations is determined by this architectural understanding of body and space, while its expression is characterised by a lyrical narrative tenor.
Applicants for the prize should be sensitive to Martin Rainer’s central design concepts and manifest them in their own artistic work. A conscious reception of his art is not a prerequisite, however, nor are any affinities between artistic techniques or the achievement of similar results. An intensive examination of conception and expression is the sole and decisive parameter.
Applications are open to artists over 35 years of age who have some contact with Martin Rainer’s geographical domain.
Documentation must be submitted of three works created over a period of at least ten years. The documentation should be sent in PDF format via e-mail to info@kuenstlerbund.org with the subject line “Martin Rainer Prize”. A short professional CV should be enclosed. The documentation will be reviewed by a jury who may request further items (models, scores, plans, etc.) as necessary.
The prizegiving ceremony will be accompanied by an exhibition where the organiser will juxtapose a work by the winner with a work by Martin Rainer. The winner will make the work in question available for the duration of the exhibition at his/her expense. The organisers will produce a signed edition of the juxtaposition, limited to thirteen copies.
The prize, initiated by the Sommerfeld Collection and the Liquid Art Academy, is offered by the South Tyrolean Artists’ Association and is awarded on a cyclical basis.
The jury for this debut edition will consist of Lisa Trockner, Director of the South Tyrolean Artists’ Association; Alexander Zoeggeler, President of the South Tyrolean Artists’ Association; Josef Rainer, artist; Paulus Rainer, Curator at the Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum; and Luigi Fassi, Curator and art critic, Sardinia.
Guidelines for the Jury
*Authenticity of works
*Originality of works
*Intensive examination of the elements of space and space-body as a fundamental variable
*A connection to the geographical domain or a comparable point of contact, e.g. of a content- or theme-related nature, is fundamental.
*The minimum age requirement is 35 years.
*The submitted works must have been created over a period of 10 years.
*A submitted work should have a meaningful and comprehensible connection to the work by Martin Rainer. A brief justification or statement of reference for this is desired.
Timeline
Award: November 2021
Deadline for submissions: 7 January 2022
Jury decision: by end-February 2022
Prizegiving ceremony: 7 April 2022
The winner is obliged to attend the prizegiving ceremony.
The prizegiving ceremony will be combined with a one-week presentation of the work in Brixen/Bressanone, where Martin Rainer produced his own creations.
Enclosures:
Photo document, foto Jürgen Eheim
Foto Martin Rainer: Karl Gruber