Peju Alatise Wins FNB Art Prize 2017

A by Artthrob on the 15th of August 2017. This should take you 2 minutes to read.

Nigerian artist, Peju Alatise, has been announced as the 2017 recipient of the highly coveted FNB Art Prize at the media launch of the 10^th installment of the FNB JoburgArtFair.

Alatise – who holds a degree in architecture – is a mixed-medium artist, poet and published writer whose interdisciplinary work has garnered attention on the global art stage. She was selected as the 2016 fellow at the Smithsonian Institute of African Art and exhibited at the Venice Biennale’s 57th edition. With several international solo exhibitions to her name, Alatise’s work can be found in private and institutional collections around the world. She’s passionate about addressing social, political and gender-related issues as her primary subject matter, through artistic work that also captures the joys and pain of womanhood in modern-life-African traditions.

Peju Alatise, o is the new + (cross)

All galleries participating in the FNB JoburgArtFair are given the opportunity to nominate one of their artists for consideration by the jury. This year, Red Door Gallery – one of the leading galleries based in Lagos – nominated Peju Alatise for the prize. Red Door’s founder, Bola Asiru says, “Peju’s work is filled with strong societal narratives on the realities of life in Africa; her message has been heard in West Africa, at the Smithsonian in the United States and the Venice Biennale in Europe. We feel that it’s time for this message to be taken to the rest of Africa and there is no better platform for this than the FNB JoburgArtFair.”

The 2017 judging panel for the coveted FNB Art Prize consisted of Nicole Siegenthaler, Producer of FNB JoburgArtFair, Pulane Kingston, partner at Webber Wentzel Attorneys and active patron of the arts, and Roselee Goldberg, New York University professor and Founding Director of Performa, a non-profit arts organisation committed to the research, development and presentation of performance by visual artists from around the world.

“The quality of each of the shortlisted candidates’ proposals this year was high,” says Pulane Kingston, “but we were ultimately unanimous in our decision around Alatise’s proposal – it stood out. The innovative, universal social relevance and poignancy in the themes underpinning her work were some of the deciding factors in tipping the scales in her favour. The overall body of her work over the years is varied and compositionally strong, palpably reflecting the intense vibrancy of the African continent. We have no doubt that the integrity of the overall body of her work will propel her career meaningfully.”