02 Nov 2011

The three winners of the JCE 2011/2013 Grand Prix

The three winners of the JCE 2011/2013 Grand Prix
Young European Artists Network Biennial
From 15 October to 13 November 2011 at the Fabrique de Montrouge

The JCE Biennial consists of a network of nine countries (France, Lithuania, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Spain and Portugal), which has invited a guest of honour (The Netherlands). In each of these countries, a committee of contemporary art experts selects the most promising young artists whose works are shown at a collective exhibition that will travel throughout Europe until 2013.

The first stage of the JCE Biennial is held in Montrouge, at the Fabrique, from 15 October to 13 November 2011.

Confirming its role of discovering the artists of tomorrow, a jury made up of international art curators and critics met on the inauguration day of the JCE Biennial, 14 October 2011, to select the three winners of the 2011-2013 session: Lina Albrikienė, Cesare Bignotti and Tamás Dezsös.

Enhancing the JCE's presence in Europe even more, this award will allow the three winners to hold an entirely new exhibition at the BeLa Editions gallery of Brussels in April 2012. This exhibition is one of the key highlights of the JCE Biennial and offers a three-month stay in Montrouge to the three artist chosen.

Founded in 2007, BeLa Editions is a gallery that represents and shows several contemporary artists, such as Saâdane Afif, Daniel Buren and Jeff Wall. Its goal is to offer art lovers works whose main features are quality, the diversity of media used and a close relationship with artists.


Lina Albrikienė

A Lithuanian artist born in Vilnius in 1984, Lina Albrikienė was awarded the 2011/2013 JCE Grand Prize for her video 'Vilnius from the Archives of my Childhood (I). Lazdynai'.

This video, which was shot in 2009, was created from archive images taken from the Vilnius archives as well as the artist's personal archives. It combines collective and personal memories. The play on blurry images that characterises this video calls memories and the notion of remembrance into question.


Cesare Bignotti

An Italian artist born in Genoa in 1981, Cesare Bignotti was awarded the 2011/2013 JCE Grand Prize for his video 'Nova Spectrum'.

Shot in 2011, this video explores the idea of images, which, due to developments in new technologies, push identity into the background. Revealed by a Polaroid character, the protagonist of the video slowly loses its identity. Cesare Bignotti thus criticises today's society where images rule.


Tamás Dezsös

A Hungarian artist born in Budapest in 1979, Tamás Dezsös was awarded the 2011/2013 JCE Grand Prize for his series of photographs 'Here, Anywhere' shot from 2009 to 2011.

In 2009, he abandons photojournalism and his collaboration with Times Magazine and National Geographic to focus on his artistic work. Using film, this series is based on the state of transition of countries that were part of the former USSR. He wants to capture these timeless spaces, which are like capsules outside of time, and are thus immortalised by his lenses.



* The ten international experts that make up the 2011/2013 JCE Grand Prize jury are:

- Mrs. Rasa Balcikonyte, Cultural Attaché, Embassy of Lithuania in France (Lithuania)
- Mr. Francesc Bordas, Artist (Spain)
- Mrs. Anne-Laure Chamboissier, Exhibition Curator (Belgium)
- Dr. Christiane Deussen, Director, Heinrich Heine House, German Foundation, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (Germany)
- Mrs. Michèle Lachowsky, Co-Director, BeLa Editions Gallery, Brussels (Belgium)
- Mrs. Elsy Lahner, Exhibition Curator, Albertina Museum, Vienna (Austria)
- Mr. Philippe Régnier, Director of publication of the 'Quotidien de l'art' (France)
- Mr. Michele Tavola, Art Critic, Exhibition Curator (Italy)
- Mr. Csaba Varga, Vice-Director, Hungarian Institute (Hungary)
- Mrs. Anna Vasseur, Plastic Arts Manager, Slovakian Institute of Paris (Slovakia)