Monica Bonvicini wins the prestigious Oskar Kokoschka Preis: the second time in history for an Italian artist

Thirty-seven years after Mario Merz, the prestigious Oskar-Kokoschka-Preis, the most important art prize awarded in Austria, returns to Italy for the second time out of twenty-one editions. In fact, the 2020 edition of the prize goes to Monica Bonvicini (Venice, 1965), an artist with an international profile, having trained not only in her native city but also in Berlin (where she currently lives and works) and Valencia. Since 2003 she has taught Performing Arts and Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and since October 2017 she has taught Sculpture at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.

Monica Bonvicini began exhibiting in major international venues as early as the 1990s, and her work explores the relationships between architecture, power, gender, space, and control: her very direct works make use of a variety of materials, have a strong social significance, and constantly challenge the viewer’s point of view. Bonvicini has been called upon to bring her works to a number of important contexts: in fact, she has exhibited five times at the Venice Biennale (1999, 2001, 2005, 2011, and 2015), twice at the Istanbul Biennale (2003 and 2017), three times at the Berlin Biennale (1998, 2004, and 2014), once at the Gwangju (2006) and New Orleans (2008) Biennale, and once at the Paris Triennale (2012). His solo exhibitions have been held at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Kunstmuseum Basel, Fridericianum Kassel, Castello di Rivoli, Kunsthalle Mainz, and Centro de Arte Contemporaneo Malaga. In 2019 he won the ACACIA Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2013 he won the Roland Preis in Bremen, in 2005 the Preis der Nationalgalerie für Junge Kunst in Berlin. Bonvicini also boasts a Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, the one awarded at the 1999 Italian Pavilion, curated by Harald Szeemann, and where she exhibited with four other artists (Grazia Toderi, Paola Pivi, Luisa Lambri and Bruna Esposito). On March 12, 2012, she was awarded the honor of Commendatore of the Italian Republic.

The Oskar-Kokoschka-Preis is awarded every two years by the Austrian government to an artist who has distinguished himself or herself in the arts internationally. The ten-member jury is chaired by the rector of the Universität für angewandte Kunst in Vienna. The roll of honor includes some of the greatest artists of the twentieth century: Hans Hartung (who won the first edition, in 1981), Gerhard Richter (1985), Richard Artschwager (1987), Jannis Kounellis (1994), John Baldessari (1996), Valie Export (2000), William Kentridge (2008), Raymond Pettibon (2010), and Yoko Ono (2012). The previous edition (2018) was won by Austrian artist Martha Jungwirth, and Monica Bonvicini is the seventh woman to win the prize. Until now, Mario Merz had been the only Italian to report the win.

The award ceremony takes place every year in Vienna on March 1 (the birthday of Oskar Kokoschka, to whom the prize is dedicated), although this year, for organizational reasons, it will be held on February 28. “We are honored to have awarded an artist who always relates to socio-political reality in her works,” said Gerald Bast, dean of the Universität für angewandte Kunst in Vienna.

Pictured: Monica Bonvicini. Ph. Credit @archiveTBA21 ©NguyenPhuongThao

Monica Bonvicini wins the prestigious Oskar Kokoschka Preis: the second time in history for an Italian artist

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