Emidio Battipaglia and Augustin Lignier are the winners of the fourth Art Vontobel Contemporary Photography Prize A New Gaze

Emidio Battipaglia and Augustin Lignier have been awarded Vontobel’s biannual international art award A New Gaze. Endowed with CHF 20,000, this prize for young contemporary photography is regarded as a springboard for emerging artists. In 2024, the two winners will be honored with an exhibition in Zurich.

The artists Emidio Battipaglia (*1984, IT) and Augustin Lignier (*1995, FR) were selected by an international jury as the joint winners of the fourth edition of the Art Vontobel sponsorship prize A New Gaze. Over 70 young artists from across Europe were invited to submit a project based on the theme of “Community”. Out of the numerous candidates nominated by experts, the two artists impressed the jury with their equally expanded and experimental approach to photography and their thought-provoking take on this year’s theme. The winning projects will be presented next year in a public exhibition in Zurich.

Community as our central theme

The concept of community is omnipresent. But where does this desire for more community come from? Is it the answer to an increasingly complex world that is becoming more fragmented and anonymous? But while communities can strengthen cohesion and identity, they can also lead to divisions and conflicts, perpetuate stereotypes, and exclude. Politics, digitalization and, more recently, the pandemic and war have affected our perception of and behavior in communities in various ways. Thus, the theme of “Community” was at the heart of this year’s call for entries for the Art Vontobel Contemporary Photography Prize A New Gaze 4. Young artists from across Europe were invited to submit a project proposal revolving around this theme. The Vontobel Prize is awarded every two years, with each edition focusing on a different geographical region and a new, currently relevant topic.

Jury statements

Andreas E.F. Utermann, Vontobel Chairman Board of Directors and President of the Vontobel Art Commission: “With the fourth edition of our art prize A New Gaze, we are—for the very first time—jointly honoring two artist projects. The jury thus acknowledges the quality of two highly committed artists who facilitate an expanded sense of seeing and thinking through their projects. Augustin Lignier and Emidio Battipaglia successfully take on the given theme of ‘Community’ by addressing associated societal evolutions in varied yet complementary ways.”

Florian Ebner, Head of the Photography Department at Centre Pompidou, Paris (Jury Member): The selection of conceptual proposals by Augustin Lignier and Emidio Battipaglia will succeed in creating an exciting dialogue between two different worlds: the physical space of the city and the virtual space of artificial (and natural) intelligence beyond the human. With his project Wink Piece, Augustin Lignier simultaneously takes up the programmatic performances of the 1970s and expands the old genre of street photography, in which he finds a subtle and playful analogy in urban space for our practice of “likes” that has become commonplace. With his experimental approach, Emidio Battipaglia attempts to juxtapose two seemingly unrelated worlds in his work Synaptic Dialogues: the organic information of plants and the structures of artificial, neuronal networks. The Italian artist’s experimental arrangement, which has yet to be developed, will also be read as an invitation to understand organic perception beyond the human, as a New Gaze on our physical and virtual reality.

Jury

• Ann-Christin Bertrand, curator, author and lecturer in photography, Head of Programme BA Camera Arts at Lucerne University (guest expert and jury member)
• Georgina Casparis, Head & Curator Art Vontobel (jury member)
• Florian Ebner, Chief of Photography at Centre Pompidou (guest expert and jury member)
• Urs Stahel, independent curator, author and lecturer, and external advisor to Art Vontobel (jury member)
• Andreas E.F. Utermann, Chairman Board of Directors and President of the Vontobel Art Commission, plus other members of the Art Commission

 

About A New Gaze – Art Vontobel Contemporary Photography Prize

Mirroring the Art Vontobel Collection, the prize—awarded every two years since 2017—reflects its various core focal points: on the one hand, its international scope and dedication to supporting and promoting the works of young and emerging artists and, on the other, the attention on addressing key questions concerning contemporary society by collecting works that revolve around the presentation of humanity and our actions in the present. As such, each edition of A New Gaze focuses on a new geographical region and socially relevant topic. In addition to the prize money, the award also includes the production of the winning projects, an exhibition and an accompanying publication.

Previous winners:

• A New Gaze 1, 2017: Eva O`Leary (Region: North America, Theme: Security / Insecurity)
• A New Gaze 2, 2019: Kelvin Haizel (Region: Africa, Theme: Identity)
• A New Gaze 3, 2022: Dongkyun Vak (Region: Southeast Asia, Theme: Responsibility)

  

Media Relations

peter.dietlmaier@vontobel.com
+41 58 283 59 30

urs.fehr@vontobel.com
+41 58 283 57 90

 

  

Vontobel
At Vontobel, we actively shape the future. We create and pursue opportunities with determination. We master what we do – and we only do what we master. This is how we get our clients ahead. As a globally active investment manager with Swiss roots, we specialize in wealth management, active asset management and investment solutions. We harness the power of technology to deliver a high-quality, individual client experience and to deploy our investment expertise across multiple platforms and ecosystems. We empower our employees to take ownership of their work and bring opportunities to life. We do so based on the conviction that successful investing begins with the assumption of personal responsibility. We continuously scrutinize our achievements as we strive to exceed the expectations of our clients. The registered shares of the Vontobel Holding AG are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The Vontobel families' close ties to the company guarantee our entrepreneurial independence. We consider the resulting freedom as an obligation to also assume our social responsibility. As of March 31, 2023, Vontobel held CHF 268.0 billion of total client assets. Around the world and in our home market, we serve our clients from 27 locations.

Legal information
This press release is provided purely for informational purposes and is expressly not directed at persons whose nationality or place of residence prohibits access to such information on account of existing legislation. The information and views contained in it do not constitute a request, offer, or recommendation to use a service, to buy or sell investment instruments, or to conduct other transactions. Forward-looking statements, by their nature, involve general and specific risks and uncertainties. It should be noted that there is a risk that forecasts, predictions, projections, and results described or implied in forward-looking statements may not prove to be correct.