Jonas Van Holanda is the winner of the 2022 Helvetia Art Prize
May 09, 2022 at 04:04 am EDT
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Helvetia Holding AG
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Jonas Van Holanda is the winner of the 2022 Helvetia Art Prize
09.05.2022 / 10:00
Media release
Basel, 9 May 2022
Jonas Van Holanda (*1989) is the winner of the 2022 Helvetia Art Prize. The winner holds a Bachelor's degree from Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD). Born in Brazil, the artist creates immersive installations that frequently incorporate videos and their own texts. Their artistic research moves between concise content und poetic narration, dealing in-depth with subjects such as language, ecology and sub-areas of quantum physics, which they then consciously reinterpret in ephemeral works and enhance with intimate fictional texts.
In their most recent audio-visual installation, "Moving Towards Us" (2022), currently part of the Plattform22 exhibition at Kunsthalle Palazzo in Liestal, the artist takes their first look at the physical and philosophical concept of negative entropy. Within this ongoing research project they take a closer look at the possibilities of physical transformation. The work combines video, projection, sound and text to explore the body beyond its physical manifestation as a sensory and temporal experience.
Assuming there is no measurable maximum speed, every visual phenomenon could happen at an infinite speed. Our understanding of space, time and existence would dissipate, a body could suddenly disappear or be replaced by another. With this scenario, Jonas Van Holanda mobilizes our perception in their work: "Moving Towards Us" (2022) reveals moments of transformation that are rooted in the trans artist's own reality and identity. The spherical sounds that fill the small exhibition space at Liestal?s Kunsthalle demonstrate an intense devotion to vibrations and the principle of negative entropy. With the idea of transforming flesh into sound, the artist addresses the consequences of both their hormonal and spiritual transition. The jury was impressed by the refreshing way in which Jonas Van Holanda handles an extremely complex subject, managing to open up the space for a societal utopia by means of quantum physics, while respecting the softness of a poetic space.
This year's Helvetia Art Prize jury comprises Michael Babics and Olivia Jenni (management team at Kunsthalle Palazzo, Liestal), Kathleen Bühler (Head Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts Bern), Julian Denzler (Curator at the Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen), Joanna Kamm (Director of the LISTE Art Fair Basel) and Nathalie Loch (Curator of Helvetia's Art Department).
Start-up assistance as part of cultural commitment
With the Art Prize, Helvetia Insurance supports young artists at the beginning of their career. The Helvetia Art Prize is aimed at the graduates of Swiss universities of applied sciences in the field of fine arts and media art. The prize is a double form of assistance: On the one hand, Jonas Van Holanda receives prize money of 15,000 francs, and, on the other hand, the opportunity to present his work to an international specialist audience and the general public with a solo exhibition at the LISTE Art Fair Basel 2023. Since being founded in 1996, the LISTE has been committed to actively promoting galleries and artists in the young and middle generations.
The Helvetia Art Prize is a key aspect of the international insurance group's commitment to art. The prize has been awarded each year since 2004. Initially known as the Nationale Suisse Art Prize, it has been named the Helvetia Art Prize since the merger of Helvetia and Nationale Suisse. Helvetia, which also insures art, has one of the most important collections of contemporary Swiss art, stretching back more than 70 years. The collection focuses on paintings, drawings and photography. Since 2015 Helvetia has had its own, publicly accessible display space in the form of the Helvetia Art Foyer at its head office in Basel. Here, thematic exhibitions featuring works from its own collection or solo presentations by artists are staged.
The installation "Moving Towards Us" (2022) by Jonas Van Holanda can be seen as part of the Plattform22 exhibition at Kunsthalle Palazzo in Liestal until 26 June 2022.
About the Helvetia Group
Helvetia Group, with its headquarters in St. Gallen, has grown since 1858 to become a successful insurance group with over 12,000 employees and more than 7 million cus-tomers. It has been enabling its customers to seize opportunities and minimise risks for all that time ? Helvetia is there for them when it matters. Helvetia is the best partner and is present everywhere that protection needs arise, with insurance, pension and investment solutions from a single source as well as simple products and processes. The insurance group knows the business, from mobile phone insurance and insurance cover for the Gotthard Base Tunnel to the long-term investment of customer assets. Helvetia develops and opens up new business models with enthusiasm and drives forward its own business in a powerful and future-oriented manner. It acts with foresight and re-sponsibility in everything it does: for the benefit of its shareholders, customers and em-ployees as well as its partners, society and the environment. Helvetia is the leading all-lines insurer in Switzerland. In the Europe segment comprising Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain, the company has firmly rooted market positions for generating above-average growth. In the Specialty Markets segment, Helvetia offers tailored special insurance and reinsurance cover worldwide. With a business volume of CHF 11.22 billion, Helvetia generated IFRS net income after tax of CHF 519.8 million in the 2021 financial year. The shares of Helvetia Holding AG are traded on SIX Swiss Ex-change.
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