The biennial Mario Merz Prize has been awarded to Petrit Halilaj and Geoffrey Gordon for art and music respectively. The prize is funded by the Fondazione Merz, and seeks to promote new, significant figures in the fields of visual arts and contemporary music composition, who wish to ‘pursue their research beyond the hardship determined by political, social or geographical conditions’.
The jury for the art award included Manuel Borja-Villel (director of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid), Lawrence Weiner (artist), Massimiliano Gioni (artistic director of the New Museum, New York – artistic director of the Fondazione Trussardi, Milan) and Beatrice Merz. Dieter Ammann (composer), Thomas Demenga (cellist and composer), Alexander Lonquich (pianist) and Willy Merz chose the recipient of the music award.
Each artist will receive €10,000 (about £8,800) towards a new commission. Halilaj will exhibit the work in a solo show in Turin and in Switzerland with an accompanying catalogue, while Gordon’s commissioned scores will be performed at a series of concerts.
6 July 2017
