Deutsche Boerse : Exhibition “Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2019” opens at the Cube, Eschborn/Frankfurt

The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation will open the exhibition Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2019. The exhibition shows works of this year's four shortlisted artists Laia Abril, Susan Meiselas, Arwed Messmer and Mark Ruwedel. After its presentation at The Photographers' Gallery in London, the exhibition will now be presented at Deutsche Börse's headquarters, The Cube, in Eschborn/Frankfurt from 14 June until 23 August 2019. The highly renowned annual prize, jointly awarded by The Photographers' Gallery and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, recognises artists and projects deemed to have made a significant contribution to photography over the previous 12 months in Europe. Susan Meiselas won the £30,000 prize on 16 May 2019 in London for her first European retrospective Mediations.

The works of all four finalists explore a vast range of topical issues through the lens and language of photography. Their projects explore collectively state and gender politics, social injustice, human rights and conceptual approaches to image making.

Laia Abril (b. 1986, Spain) has been nominated for the publication On Abortion (Dewi Lewis Publishing, November 2017). On Abortion is a visual research project that draws on the past, present and current history of abortion to highlight the continuing erosion of women's reproductive rights. In this meticulously researched project, Abril documents the physical and psychological dangers caused by the continuous lack of legal, safe and free access to abortion. Her collection of visual, audio and textual evidence graphically represents the consequences of unsafe procedures. It raises complex questions around the ethics and morality involved in any consideration of this subject.

Susan Meiselas (b. 1948, USA) has won the prize for the exhibition Mediations (Jeu de Paume, Paris, 6 February - 30 May 2018). A leading documentary photographer, Susan Meiselas is widely acknowledged for her work in the conflict zones of Central America (1978-1983). The Magnum photographer has focused on a wide range of challenging issues from ethnic and religious conflicts, human rights issues to the sex industry. For this exhibition, Meiselas chose to present her long-term engagement with the Kurdish dispora. 'Kurdistan/akaKurdistan' began with a trip the photographer took to capture Anfal genocide against the Iraqi Kurds in 1991 and she began a project offering a layered, lived history of Kurdistan, driven by the momentum of its contributors with whom she continues to collaborate with.

Arwed Messmer (b. 1964, Germany) has been nominated for his exhibition RAF - No Evidence / Kein Beweis (ZEPHYR|Raum für Fotografie, Mannheim, 9 September - 5 November 2017). This comprehensive body of work reflects on the trajectory of the Red Army Faction (RAF). A far-left extremist organisation, formed in 1970, engaged in a series of violent terrorist attacks in Germany over the course of three decades. Messmer sets out to chart and considers the group's involvement in such events as the student protests of 1968 and the violent 'German Autumn' of 1977. The resulting project draws on a diversity of source materials from various state archives, including an extensive collection of investigative, forensic and documentary photographs ranging from the mundane to the surreal. By repurposing and recontextualising the tools and materials commonly used in police investigations and crime-scene reconstructions, Messmer's 'narrative' examines how images once used to collect evidence in criminal cases can now provide a different insight into our understanding of history.

Mark Ruwedel (b. 1955, USA) was nominated for the exhibition Artist and Society: Mark Ruwedel (16 February - 16 December 2018 at Tate Modern, London). Having spent many years photographing across North America, Mark Ruwedel's work explores how geological, historical and political events leave their marks on the landscape. The works showcase his interest in the history of photography and conceptual art practices of the 1960s and 70s. Merging documentary and conceptual methods of image-making, Ruwedel also finds influence in land art echoed in his expansive images of abandoned railways, nuclear testing sites and empty desert homes.

The members of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2019 jury were: Sunil Gupta, artist, writer, activist and curator; Diane Dufour, Director of Le Bal, Paris; Felix Hoffmann, Chief Curator at C/O Berlin; Anne-Marie Beckmann, Director,Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Frankfurt. Brett Rogers, Director, The Photographers' Gallery, London, continues as the non-voting chair.

On the same occasion and as part of the 20th anniversary of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse, the exhibition 'Favourite Pieces - The Staff Selection' will be shown on the ground floor. Under the theme 'From another perspective', the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation invited experts to share their views on this important collection of contemporary photography. For this exhibition, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation invited Deutsche Börse employees to name their personal favourites from the Collection. The displayed 50 works from the collection are supplemented with the employees' quotations explaining their selection. With the resulting presentation, the foundation is carrying on the continuous dialogue that has been maintained with the staff since the very start of the Collection. This stimulating, constructive and at times challenging exchange is an elementary and extremely enriching aspect of the work of the Foundation. This concept of allowing the employees to contribute to the activities of the Art Collection is essential and allows the photographs to play a role in the company in the long term: corporate culture in the making.

Notes for Editors
A press preview will be held on 13 June 2019 at 11 am at The Cube, Mergenthalerallee 61, 65760 Eschborn. Anne-Marie Beckmann, Director, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation and Anna Dannemann, curator of the exhibition will lead you through the exhibition, together with the artists Susan Meiselas, Laia Abril and Arwed Messmer. The opening will take place on Thursday, the 13 June at 6.30 p.m. Please register under [e-mail].

We will be happy to send you press pictures in print quality on request.

Information for visitors:
The exhibitions 'Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2019' and 'Favourite Pieces - The Staff Selection', can be visited free of charge as part of a guided tour at The Cube, the headquarters of Deutsche Börse. Please book in advance. The dates of public guided tours and the current exhibitions are available here. Additional dates for groups with 10 persons or more are available by arrangement.

Media contacts:
Leticia Adam
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Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation
The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation is a Frankfurt-based non-profit organisation. The foundation activities focus on collecting, exhibiting and promoting contemporary photography. Deutsche Börse began to build up its collection of contemporary photography in 1999. Art Collection Deutsche Börse now comprises more than 1,800 works by over 130 international artists. Expanding the Art Collection Deutsche Börse is one of the key aims of the foundation. The collection and a changing exhibition programme are open to the public. Together with The Photographers' Gallery in London, the foundation awards the renowned Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize each year. The promotion of young artists is a special concern of the foundation. It supports them in the form of awards, scholarships, exhibitions and cooperations with other institutions, such as the Foam Talents Programme of the Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. Other focal points include supporting exhibition projects of international museums and institutions, and the expansion of platforms for academic discussion about the medium.
www.deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org.

The Photography Prize History
Originated in 1996 by The Photographers' Gallery, and now in its twenty-second year, the Prize has become one of the most prestigious international arts awards and has launched and established the careers of many photographers over the years. Previously known as the Citigroup Photography Prize, the Gallery has been collaborating with Deutsche Börse Group as title sponsors since 2005. In 2016 the Prize was retitled as the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize following the establishment of the foundation as a non-profit organisation dedicated to the collection, exhibition and promotion of contemporary photography.

Winner of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2018 was Luke Willis Thompson for autoportrait, a filmic portrait of Diamond Reynolds. Past winners have included Dana Lixenberg, Trevor Paglen, Paul Graham, Juergen Teller, Rineke Dijkstra, Richard Billingham, John Stezaker and Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin.