Under 35? Consider the Emerige Revelations Grant
About the 10th anniversary of the support scheme for young artists set up by property developer and patron Emerige.
This year's winner of the Emerige Revelations Bursary is a painter by the name of Johanna Mirabel. I'd like to tell you that it's easy to see why when you see her disturbing Living Room n°14, an oil on canvas measuring over 2 m on each side, but I can't. Not that this work of art for sale leaves me indifferent. Not that this work of art for sale leaves me unmoved, on the contrary. In tones reminiscent of sanguine, the artist blends precise figuration and abstraction so well that she gives her work a Bonnard-like Nabi air. I just love it. But Johanna Mirabel's works weren't the only ones on show until 5 November at 190 Rue Lecourbe in Paris, as part of the 'Hit Again' exhibition from the Emerige 2023 Revelations Bursary. Alongside them were works by the other nominated artists: Mathilde Albouy, Ismaël Bazri, Jules Bourbon, Emilie Caie, Juliet Casella, Morgane Ely, Frederik Exner, Na Liu, Hugo Ruyant, Moïse Togo and Thaïs Zakï Tembo. And I really would have pulled my hair out if I'd been on the jury! What the twelve selected artists have in common is that they are all under 35 years of age, have real power and a great deal of talent, in fields as diverse as painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation and experimental film... Oh yes, and also that they are French, living and working in France at least at the time of submitting their application, and not yet represented by an art gallery.
Johanna Mirabel, Living Room n°14, 2022 Oil on canvas 205 x 220 cm
So it's true that, in the end, it was Johanna Mirabel who, after a selection process lasting several months, won the €15,000 prize for her solo exhibition at this year's partner art gallery of the springboard designed to support the young French art scene. And the art gallery that will be supporting him from now on is no less than Nathalie Obadia's gallery - no mean feat! But as the Emerige Revelations Bursary programme is particularly well designed to be concretely linked to the contemporary art market, it really benefits each of the twelve artists selected each year. Not least thanks to the powerful exchanges with gallery owners and the group exhibition that opens each year in Paris, then travels to the Hôtel des Arts in Toulon, in partnership with the Villa Noailles, before a smaller version is presented at the Arco fair in Madrid. It is to Frederik Exner's hybrid creatures that Laurent Quénéhen, art critic for Artpress, has chosen to devote the 'Introducing' section of the November issue of the contemporary art magazine.
Frederik Exner, Diptykon I, 2022 Resin and airbrush 130 x 70 cm © David Stjernholm
Needless to say, after such an immersion in the world of contemporary art, even if it is the winner of the Bursary who automatically continues to work with the participating art gallery, which now represents him or her, the eleven others are bound to be spotted too, and will no doubt continue to find takers for their works of art for sale. Every year, artists in the selection receive invitations from other galleries, curators, institutions, collectors... Yes, brilliant trajectories are taking shape here.
There's good reason to be grateful to the jury of the Bourse Révélations, made up of Laurent Dumas, Chairman and founder of Emerige, property developer and patron of the arts, Paula Aisemberg, Director of Artistic Projects, the guest art gallery (Nathalie Obadia this year) and Gaël Charbeau, art critic and exhibition curator since the bourse was created. This month, he answers questions from Etienne Hatt, deputy editor-in-chief of Artpress, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Emerige Revelations Bursary. And he confirms that the specificity of this bursary lies in its association, each year, with a major art gallery. With this bursary, we're dealing with something concrete. Material. The winners not only get their moment of glory, but also the means to make a living by selling their works of art and gradually building up a real reputation on the international contemporary art market.
"To support this young generation of artists under 35, it wasn't a question of creating yet another prize, but of proposing a scheme that is directly linked to the art market, that can change the situation for these artists. The beginning of their careers is a particularly complicated time for them. If they can't make a living, at least in part, from their work, we know that they risk abandoning their practice for lack of material resources", explains Gaël Charbeau, who this year also became artistic director of Un Ete au Havre. When asked about the selection criteria, it's inevitably harder for him to give a precise answer, given that these of course change every year as the members of the jury discuss the more than one thousand applications they receive. But don't let that stop you from sending in yours for next year if you meet the criteria! But if I can give you a hint: the specificity of the art gallery selected for the 11th edition will be a decisive factor.
"The gallery knows that one of these artists will be exhibiting within its walls, but it's a jury that chooses the artist with the gallery at a later date, after the exhibition has opened. The selection criteria, in other words the aesthetic judgement we make, evolves according to the specific identity of these galleries. Our approach is not exactly the same when we work with the Georges-Philippe et Nathalie Vallois art gallery, GB Agency, Mor Charpentier or Jérôme Poggi, to name but a few. It's a fascinating exercise to delve into the minds and tastes of these gallery owners. I think we're always careful to put forward artists whose work can't be summed up in a slogan or exhausted in a single glance, and I'm sure everyone will agree on that point... We look for artists who are deeply committed to their practice, and what perhaps characterises us is the search for great intensity. Artists who know why they are adding forms to a world that already contains many.
Article written by Valibri en Roulotte