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The Graves Gallery in Sheffield will receive the sum of £60,000 towards their ambitious new commission with artist Katerina Šedá. The Award has been made possible through the generous support of the Sfumato Foundation.
The Award, launched to celebrate the Contemporary Art Society's centenary, was presented by artist, Grayson Perry at the Contemporary Art Society's Annual Reception at Camden Art Centre.
Grayson Perry announces the 2009 Art Award
The 2009 Award Panel included artists Martin Boyce, Rosalind Nashashibi and Olivia Plender.
Katerina Šedá studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts from 1999 to 2005 and is currently based in the Czech Republic.
Her work involves staging interventions into the 'normality' of life around her.
These experiments have taken place in villages near her home in Brno, as well as the urban setting of her second home in Prague.
Šedá has developed poignant sociological themes based on rigorous research into behaviour and communication patterns in art and non-art communities. She will show a work as part of Art Sheffield 2010 and complete the new commission Líšen Profile from her base in the Czech Republic before the end of the year.
Curators and gallery educators at The Graves will be much involved in Šedá's complex working process and the development of the work itself.
A representative of Museums Sheffield commented: "We feel that Seda's commitment to exploring people's histories and memories, individual and collective identities, as illustrated by her work, would be an exciting fit for our contemporary collecting."
"It takes us in a new direction whilst staying within the theme of identity and introduces our audiences to inspiring new international practice. Our current contemporary works deal with individual and personal identity and so far this has been our focus for acquisitions."
"Our collecting policy has recently developed to encompass broader issues of identity, in response to migration, Sheffield's changing demographics and world events. Seda's work would be an inspiring beginning for this new direction for the collection."
Source: The Contemporary Art Society Announcement to Members, 22nd December, 2009
For further information on Museums Sheffield, please follow this LINK
Background Information for news item
The Contemporary Art Society is celebrating its centenary this year.
Founded in 1909 by a group of private philanthropists, the Contemporary Art Society has been buying works of art and donating them to British museums and galleries for nearly 100 years. It aims to support contemporary artists and ensure that important contemporary works are made available to the widest possible audiences across the country.
Over its 100-year history, the Society has acquired works by artists including Picasso, Gauguin, Moore, Bacon, Caro, Gilbert & George, Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry and Mark Wallinger. This has often been the first time the work of this living artist has been given to a public collection.
Ayr's Maclaurin Trust was a Museum Member of the Contemporary Art Society between 1988 and 1997. At that time membership was limited to 60 museums and the Maclaurin was invited to become a member on the basis of their commitment to collecting and exhibiting contemporary art.
Museum Membership is a subscription scheme and members receive a range of benefits in return for an annual subscription to the programme of Fine Art acquisitions or the Craft acquisitions programme.
During the period of their membership, the Maclaurin Trust received gifts of work by the Austrian artists Hodicke and a large work on canvas by Michael Craig Martin.
Today, the Contemporary Art Society has 64 member galleries, eight of these in Scotland.
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For further information on the Contemporary Art Society, including services for individual members, please follow this LINK
For further information about the Maclaurin Art Collection, please follow this LINK