Following a nationwide call for applications at the beginning of 2020, awardees Soojin Chang and Michael. have been commissioned by the Jerwood/FVU Awards to develop and showcase two large-scale ambitious projects. These projects coincide with the launch of an exciting new partnership with Leeds Art Gallery during the 10th anniversary year of the prestigious awards.
Each selected artist was awarded £25,000 to develop significant new moving-image works with Film and Video Umbrella (FVU) for exhibition at Jerwood Arts opening 7 May 2022.
The Jerwood/FVU Awards is a prestigious commissioning scheme that has supported early-career moving-image artists since 2012. The awards have established an esteemed role in the contemporary visual arts, by enabling exceptional artists to develop significant new artworks at a pivotal moment in their practice. Selection of this years’ awards was made by a panel of experts, including award-winning visual artists Hetain Patel and Rehana Zaman. Past winners have included contemporary artists Ed Atkins (awarded 2012), who has since shown internationally and at Tate Britain and Serpentine Gallery, Marianna Simnett (awarded 2014), who has been selected at this year’s Venice Biennale, and Lawrence Lek (awarded 2017), named Grand Prix Winner of Hyundai’s 4th VH Award in 2021.
Both artists have taken an exciting and challenging approach to ideas of difference and inclusion. In Soojin Chang’s case, BXBY is a radical, semi-fictional work which explores the fusion of interspecies life and Michael.’s installation cleave to the BLACK depicts through a moving-image triptych, the continuing legacy of Black male experience. Find out more about the works, here.
Lilli Geissendorfer, Director of Jerwood Arts said:
We are delighted to announce Soojin Chang and Michael. as recipients of the Jerwood/FVU Awards 2022.The awards support exceptional artistic voices to create new works using moving-image, often exploring challenging and timely subjects. Through the awards, we are committed to enabling new artistic voices to create ambitious works on their terms, with substantial curatorial and production support. We are excited to premiere Soojin and Michael.’s films at Jerwood Space in Southwark and to work with our new partners at Leeds Art Gallery to share them with audiences in Yorkshire in Autumn 2022, deepening our engagement with artist filmmakers across the UK.
Steven Bode, Director of FVU said:
The Jerwood/FVU Awards have always aspired to be bold – in the platform they create for new, emerging talents and in the licence they give for artists to respond to contemporary subjects and themes. This year’s commissions by Soojin Chang and Michael. are no exception: works that are powerfully of the moment, and which draw upon the past to urge us to think ahead and imagine a different future. It has been a pleasure to collaborate once again with Jerwood Arts and our new partner Leeds Art Gallery on this key initiative, which now marks its tenth year.
Yvonne Hardman, Head of Collections and Programmes at Leeds Art Gallery added:
We are thrilled to commence a new three-way partnership with the prestigious Jerwood/FVU Awards. We look forward to showcasing Soojin Chang and Michael., two incredibly innovative and groundbreaking artists and open up opportunities to support moving-image artists in the local region.
The Jerwood/FVU Awards 2022 are a collaboration between Jerwood Arts and Film and Video Umbrella, in a new partnership with Leeds Art Gallery. They were established in 2012 in response to a need for significant major commissions for early-career moving-image artists, the awards contribute to an ongoing dialogue around urgent or timely concerns within moving image.
Find out more:
Read the press release, here.
Find out more about the exhibition, here.
Find out more about the Jerwood/FVU Awards, here.
Sign up for our Exhibitions and Events monthly newsletter, here.
