Brazilian Artist Wins New $100,000 Prize

December 10, 2010, 4:13 pm

By CAROL VOGEL

Cinthia Marcelle, a Brazilian artist who makes films, photographs and installations, is the winner of the first Future Generation Art Prize, it was announced in an award ceremony in Kiev, Ukraine, on Friday.

The new biannual $100,000 award is given to an artist 35 or younger by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 by its namesake, the Ukrainian billionaire and art collector. Ms. Marcelle, who was 35 when she applied for the prize and has since turned 36, submitted three films that are on view, along with submissions of the 20 other finalists, at the Pinchuk Art Center in Kiev through Jan. 9. Her work uses repetition as an artistic tool, becoming like abstract manifestos “as political as they are economic, reflecting subversively on social behavior and social structures,’’ the catalog said.

“When I first saw her work I thought it is so smart and so beautiful I would like to acquire it,” Mr. Pinchuk said. “And as I’m establishing a tradition of buying the winner’s work I am glad the jury agreed. For me it is the most beautiful and the strongest.”

Unlike most prizes the award comes with strings. To ensure that the winner will keep working, $40,000 of the $100,000 must go into the production of art. And also unlike many prizes, it is considered particularly democratic. Anyone can be considered as long as they apply online. When the prize was announced a year ago it attracted more than 6,000 applicants from 125 countries on six continents.

The winner was chosen from a jury of arts professionals and artists who included Robert Storr, dean of the Yale University School of Art and director of the 2007 Venice Bienniale; Daniel Birnbaum, director of the St?delschule Art Academy in Frankfurt and director of the 2009 Venice Biennale; and Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist.

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Prize Is Created for Gay Literature for Young Readers

November 1, 2010, 1:03 pm

By JULIE BOSMAN

The American Library Association has added an award for gay and lesbian literature to its annual prizes for children’s books. The prizes, which include the prestigious John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott medals, will be announced on Jan. 10.

The new award, called the Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, is for an English-language book “of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered experience,” the association said on Monday. Stonewall Awards for adult books have been handed out since 1971.

Robert Stevens, the president of the American Library Association, said in a statement that children’s books that include the experiences of gays and lesbians “are critical tools in teaching tolerance, acceptance and the importance of diversity.”

Books that win awards from the association are closely watched by librarians, teachers and parents, and are typically distributed widely in bookstores, schools and libraries after receiving a prize.

The American Library Association said there was a growing demand for hihg-quality children’s books that reflect the experiences of gays and lesbians, citing a national statistic that about 14 million children have a gay or lesbian parent.

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