Vietnamese visual artist wins $44,000 Signature Art Prize

Chủ Nhật, 01/07/2018, 10:02

For the first time, a female Vietnamese artist has won the grand prize at the Signature Art Prize, a triennial award meant to recognize outstanding examples of contemporary art from both emerging and established artists in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vietnamese visual artist Phan Thao Nguyen was announced winner of the 2018 Signature Art Prize with the grand prize of SGD$60,000 (US$44,022) at the award ceremony taking place at the National Museum of Singapore on Friday.

The 31-year-old's installation of videos and oil paintings titled “Tropical Siesta” speaks to the dark eras of Vietnamese history where the country has economically and ideologically struggled, through the eyes of countryside children.

“Tropical Siesta” was also displayed in Nguyen’s previous exhibition in Hanoi in December 2017.

Phan Thao Nguyen (middle) is awarded the Grand prize at the 2018 Signature Art Prize in Singapore in this photo provided by the prize’s organizers.

The two juror’s choice awards, with the worth of SGD15,000 ($11,000) each, were awarded to Shubigi Rao from Singapore and Thailand’s Hua Lamphong.

Indonesian artist Gede Mahendra Yasa took home the SGD10,000 ($7,337) people's choice award by receiving the most votes from visitors.

All 15 works of art shortlisted for the prize are on display at the National Museum of Singapore until September 2.

Vietnamese visual artist wins $44,000 Signature Art Prize

Images from “Tropical Siesta” are displayed on two channel video installation in this photo provided by the prize’s organizers.

Like the previous editions, the 2018 Signature Art Prize was organized by the Singapore Art Museum and sponsored by the Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation to put the spotlight on the most compelling, cogent and complex works of art over the previous three years.

This year, the field was not only limited to the Asia-Pacific rim but also enlarged to include Central Asia.

The 2018 also observed the fourth times that the Signature Art Prize has been held since its inauguration in 2008.

But it is the first time for a Vietnamese artist to outdo her senior artists, who also set their names among the finalists, to seize the grand prize.

Nguyen said that the grand prize meant very much to her as Singapore was where she grew and developed as an artist when she spent a year studying and completing a residency artist program there.

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