Jury and nominees have been picked.
Get to know the 2017 Absolut Art Award.

With over 30-years of collaborations with the likes of Andy Warhol, Rosemarie Trockel and Keith Haring and our Art Bars popping up all around the world (most recently in Ibiza, Berlin, Copenhagen and Bogotá), our infatuation with the art world remains as strong as ever.

One way we show this is through our Absolut Art Award. Since 2009 it’s been our way to acknowledge the activities and creations of the most exciting visionaries of our time. A little more unique than most awards, it provides a unique opportunity to bring dream projects to life - with absolutely no commercial restraints.

The winner of the Absolut Art Award for art work receives a cash prize of €20,000 and a budget of €100,000 to produce and exhibit a new work or project. The winning art writer is awarded a cash prize of €20,000 and a stipend of €25,000 to be used towards the research and production of a new art publication. 

39 nominees have been selected in the Art Work category by the 2017 Nominators. The 2017 list includes artists from emerging contemporary art hubs such as India, Ghana, Iran, South Korea and Bangladesh as well as areas with firmly-established art scenes. Nominees range in age from 24 to 52, and comprise recognised artists who are established in their field, as well as young emerging artists.

Ten art writers from across seven countries have been selected in the Art Writing category, with ranging backgrounds, experience and research interests. This element of the prize continues our longstanding support of the development of critical theory and nurturing artistic discourse.

This year, there’s also a new ‘Emerging Artist Award’ category to celebrate those new artists who are making a stir and are set to shake up the art world. 

The whole list of nominees can be found here. A shortlist of five finalists from both the Art Work and Art Writing category will be revealed in January 2017, selected by the 2017 Jury – led by Jury President Daniel Birnbaum.

Meet the 2017 Jury

The jury for 2017 Absolut Art Awards does not disappoint. Led by newly-appointed Jury President Daniel Birnbaum (director of the Moderna Museet, Stockholm), his A-team for the 2017 awards is comprised of four additional distinguished art world figures: Simon Castets, Director and Curator of Swiss Institute, New York; Elena Filipovic, Director and Chief Curator of Kunsthalle Basel; Polly Staple, Director of Chisenhale Gallery, London and finally, Jack Bankowsky, critic, curator and Editor-at-large at Artforum.

Previous Champs

Last year, Jury President Massimiliano Gioni awarded the Absolut Art Award for art work to LA-based artist Frances Stark, and to Tate curator, Mark Godfrey, for art writing.

For her prize creation, Frances is working on a pedagogical opera of Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’ premiering in spring 2017 and Mark Godfrey is editing an anthology dedicated to ‘The Black Art Debate’ and African-American art in the 1960s and 70s.