The fourth edition of the new Braque Prize confirms the validity of this program, as well as the richness of the dialogue maintained between the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero and the Institut français d’Argentine, which work together to ensure its success and deepening.

Since 2013, the year of its refounding, the Prize has not ceased to be renewed in artistic and pedagogical terms, thus demonstrating its capacity to adapt to the international challenges posed by the positioning of young artists.

Dedicated to the identification and production of the emerging Argentine scene, it reinforces its reputation as a discoverer of talents and ratifies and broadens the quality of its support. Each chosen candidate benefits from the external and experienced gaze of the curators, a valuable contribution to which is added their support for the realization of the works.

Once again, this year, we have opted for a rigorous selection. The number of candidates has been reduced in order to provide the demand and the necessary means for the works production. The selection committee is composed by the following curators:  Diego Bianchi, Florencia Qualina, Sebastián Tedesco, Diana Wechsler (Director of the Institute for Research in Art and Culture of UNTREF and Deputy Director of Research and Curatorship of MUNTREF), Benedetta Casini (Coordinator of exhibitions of MUNTREF), Caroline Coll (Cultural attaché of the French Embassy in Argentina) and Lucie Haguenauer (Assistant for artistic exchanges of the Institut français d’Argentine).  They focused their attention on artists and projects that reflect through their ambition and diversity the creativity and vitality of an increasingly recognized Argentinean art scene around the world through their ambition and diversity.

Another novelty this year is the inclusion of seven directors of the FRAC (Fonds Régionaux d’Art Contemporain [Regional Contemporary Art Funds]) in the jury who will come to Buenos Aires to discover the Argentine scene and promote their approach to the French scene. This is not an anecdotic fact, but a sign of structuring and deepening our artistic cooperation, in line with the perspective of the 2022-2023 cross-cultural seasons between the two countries.

The integration of the winning artist into the French institutional circuit has the same logic. In addition to the six-month residency he will benefit from in the heart of Paris, at the Cité Internationale des Arts, he will be accompanied on his trip by representatives of the institutions participating in the competition.

I welcome these cross-collaborations in the service of contemporary art. I thank the artists and members of the jury for their participation and I express my gratitude to the curators and teams, who, through their commitment and skills, are helping to anchor this exemplary initiative in the academic and institutional landscape of our two countries. I especially welcome the action of UNTREF and its rector, Aníbal Jozami, who, through their participation, promote the excellence of the students and the international projection of Argentine artists.

Pierre Henri Guignard

Ambassador of France to Argentina

UNTREF is an academic institution in the fulfillment of its specific task – the development of research and knowledge for the training of professionals and academics – it unites an intense transfer work to return the fruits of this task to society as a whole.

This policy includes the dissemination and training of Argentinean art in the country and abroad.

In 2013 we considered to recover the Braque Prize, which had been interrupted fifteen years before, after having had a fundamental importance for the promotion of Argentinean art during three decades.

The French embassy is our partner in this undertaking, which is now in the fourth edition of its new era  thanks to the fraternal collaboration of the French ambassador Pierre Henri Guignard, and the always attentive collaboration of the French Cultural and Cooperation Councillor Yann Lorvo and his team.

The quality and the selection of the artists that are presented makes this award, once again, one of the milestones of Argentinean contemporary art. This is made possible by the hard work of the group of curators in the selection, curatorship and accompaniment of the work of the artists. The curators Florencia Qualina, Diego Bianchi, Sebastián Tedesco and Benedetta Casini.

I would also like to highlight the precise and qualified direction of Diana Wechsler and the work of all the members of the MUNTREF team, who, with their dedication, give in each exhibition a new breath to our actions.

Aníbal Y. Jozami

Rector

UNTREF

We enthusiastically present the Braque Award 2019, promoted for six years by the French Embassy, the National University of Tres de Febrero and the MUNTREF Contemporary Art Center. The history of the Braque Prize is enormously fruitful for Argentinean art; it dates back to the sixties and its participants include many of the most transcendental artists in our field. Since then, the first prize consists of a six-month residency in France. It means, without a doubt, a valuable opportunity for those who obtain the award, since it implies the possibility of establishing new professional ties, getting to know scenes, institutions and of living an enriching personal experience.

A singularity of the Prize is that it is carried out by invitation; for this purpose, the selection jury discussed the names that each one proposed for long days until elaborating the group of artists that were imagined for the edition. The selection jury sought to compose a plural panorama in terms of materiality and poetics -which include paintings, performances, videos, installations-, to favour the exhibition of artists belonging to younger generations and to include more experimental works or processes. After receiving the invitation and accepting it, the artists began to work on their pieces. To do so, they received a budget and the accompaniment of curators, production teams and technical assistance.

It is important that the Braque Prize continues to promote cultural exchanges between Argentinean artists and French institutions; and that it takes place within the public university and its museum to which thousands of people have free and gratuitous access aswell. It is an invaluable opportunity to cultivate, through art, community life.

We want to thank the artists for their effort and commitment to think and make challenging, sensitive, intelligent works that require from the public, in equal measure, willingness and dedication to experience them.

Florence Qualina

On behalf of the selection jury

Erica Bohm

The perfect crystal

2019

Installation of copper sulphate and monoammonium phosphate crystals on wooden boards and texts on wall

Dimensionsvariable

 

Nacha Canvas

Simile

2019

Clay

300 x 120 x 120 cm

 

Alfredo Dufour

Ces’t la vie I

2019

Installation (painting, objects, furniture)

250 x 250 x 200 cm approx.

 

Celina Eceiza

Heated dinner

2019

Self-supporting iron structure with hand-dyed fabrics and patches; newspaper basketry and painting

558 x 568 cm

 

Mariana Ferrari

Living here

2019

Mixed media

Variable dimensions

 

Mónica Heller

From Satellite Consciousness to Satellite Knowledge

2019

3D Animation

6’

 

Mariana Lopez

Museum

2019

Word Technologies

Variable dimensions

 

Nicolás Mastracchio~

Induction VI

2019

Inkjet printing, cotton yarn, wood

200 x 140 x 300 cm

 

Gustavo Nieto

S/T

2019

Engraving on mirror

700 x 200 cm

 

Malena Pizani

Five monkeys

2019

Installation Fabrics, embroidery and sewing on canvas and single-channel video.

200 x 300 cm approx. / Video: 5 minutes

 

Bethlehem Romero Gunset

Thinking alone is criminal.

2019

Installation and performance

230 x 230 x 230 cm

 

Juan Sorrentino

Trawl

2019

Red quebracho trunks and sleepers, 2 winches, microcontrollers (arduinos, relay), train rails and train buffers.

180 x 300 x 150 cm

Work carried out with the support of Fundación PROA

 

Julian Sorter

Double body

2019

Sculpture and performance. Iron and textile sublimated

Variable dimensions

 

Cecilia Szalkowicz

Cosmos

2019

Objects, images, light, sound

Original music: Ismael Pinkler

Lighting: Matías Sendón

Electronic development: Piren Benavídez Ortiz

 

Dani Zelko

Northern Border

2018-2019

Chairs, fabrics, papers, words

100 x 100 cm