The winners of the Ar(t)ambo Art Prize have been announced!
Enabling art, creating spaces for experience
Galerie Greulich, together with Atambo Kunstreisen and Galeria Minch, awards the a(r)tambo Art Prize as a residency in Los Cabos San Lucas, Mexico.
On 12 January, the jury of the a(r)tambo Art Prize decided on the award of a travel grant to Mexico and prize money of €3,000. From 85 applications from all over Germany, Jurena Muñoz, Per Schorn and Meira Kiefer were selected as the winners. The call for entries was aimed at visual artists of all disciplines and media and met with a remarkably high response in its first edition.
The field of applicants was characterised by excellent academic quality. Many submissions showed a serious, continuous engagement with relevant subjects. The decision for three positions was therefore not made in the sense of a classic competition, but along a specific question: Which artistic working methods benefit particularly from a temporary change of location – and are at the same time open enough to engage with a new social and cultural context and exchange?
The jury consisted of Karen Wittel and Elena Stiehr from Atambo Kunstreisen, the artist and curator François Parisfrom Galeria Minch in Cabo San Lucas, and Andreas Greulich, the owner and gallery owner of Galerie Greulich in Frankfurt.
Why we offer this prize
Galerie Greulich is a co-initiator of the a(r)tambo Art Prize. In our view, the responsibility of a gallery is not limited to exhibiting finished works. Artistic work requires time, space and sometimes distance from one’s own environment. However, this is precisely what is increasingly lacking – especially beyond institutional support structures.
As a gallery, we do not see ourselves as an elitist place, but rather as a third, social space where working relationships can develop and grow: close to the artists, interested in processes, not just results. For us, art prizes are not a prestige project, but a pragmatic means of enabling work and artistic research. In the past, we have already organised and advertised prize formats such as V kunst Frankfurt. The a(r)tambo Art Prize continues this approach, but consistently shifts the focus to the work process itself.
The travel grant enables a ten-day residency in Mexico. The change of location is not an end in itself. It creates distance, irritation and new references – conditions under which artistic work often develops its true sharpness.
The award-winning positions:
Meira Elisa Kiefer lives and works in Saarbrücken. Born in 2004, the artist is currently studying at the Saar College of Fine Arts. Her works oscillate between concept and sensual experience, with interpersonal relationships playing an essential role in both form and content. It is precisely this interpersonal aspect, which was the central point of the call for entries, that Kiefer deals with artistically. As one of the youngest positions among the submitted applications, the jury saw particular potential for promotion here.
Jurena Muñoz impressed the jury with her remarkable and unique visual language, which stands out for its expressive use of colour. The multidisciplinary artist explores identity, migration and the memory of ancestors. Drawing on the cultural heritage of Abya Yala, Muñoz portrays indigenous women as powerful figures of knowledge and resilience. Through vibrant colours and symbolic forms, Jurena builds a bridge between contemporary art and community traditions. Jurena Muñoz Lagunas, with Peruvian-Chilean roots, was born in Hanover in 1990. She currently lives and works in Berlin.
Born in 1978, the Frankfurt-based photographic artist stood out above all for his artistic project in Mexico. His photo series ‘working class heroes’ is now set to continue in Cabos San Lucas. The clear visual language and scenographic lighting create resonant image spaces that invite viewers to dream and reflect. The jury was impressed by the idea of depicting everyday life in Mexico away from the tourist highlights.
Perspective
The works created during the residency will be shown both in Mexico and subsequently in Germany. Further collaborations are also planned, including an exhibition at the Greulich Gallery.
The first call for entries for the a(r)tambo Art Prize has shown that there is a great need for formats that take artistic work seriously – not as an event, not as a competition for visibility, but as a process. We would like to continue along this path and link it to relevant topics of our time.