EARTH Foundation dedicates its annual prize – aimed at contemporary emerging art – to a theme of everyday life that reflects the mission and values underlying our activity: inclusiveness, beauty, tolerance and sustainability. In this second edition of the Award, sustainability becomes the protagonist of an exhibition designed for the city that hosts us. To make the impact of the initiative even more concrete, the Foundation has chosen to compensate for the CO2 emissions generated during the realization of the exhibition thanks to the support of Recuperiamo S.r.l.
This year, the 100 applications received highlighted the possibility of moving within the macro theme of sustainability thanks to numerous and different facets, addressed with multidisciplinary and innovative approaches. The finalists were selected by a jury composed of: Carlo Bach, artistic director of illycaffè, Chiara Ventura, co-founder and vice-president of E.ART.H. Foundation, the gallery owner Michela Rizzo, the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto, founder of Cittadellarte, and the Berlin curatorial duo of Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath.
The works of the 10 finalists revealed three main themes for the collective exhibition. Olga Komanidze, Lara Dâmaso and Alice Capelli designate the body and language as privileged instruments of contact with the environment, Vittoria Mazzonis, Lorenzo Zerbini, Adam Bialek and Francesco Pacelli express the relationship between natural and artificial elements through the creation of objects with ancestral and hybrid forms, Judith Neunhäuserer, Lucia Simone and Francesca Macis tackle the complexity of environmental protection with different media, but with the common goal of undermining human indifference to environmental emergencies.
Thanks to the support of illycaffè, who shares our ideals and supports this event with interest and participation, the young artist Judith Nëunhauserer was awarded by the jury for the thematic relevance and expressive strength of the candidate work. The winning work, titled Can’t you feel the heat wave, darling? was made during a trip to the Arctic Ocean. The dinner for two that takes place on a raft in the middle of the arctic ice puts the emphasis on the carelessness of man towards the climatic upheavals that surround him. The protagonists perform daily actions in total disinterest for the natural context, transforming the landscape into a mere scenic expedient without any real value.
Thanks to the partnership with the Benefit Recuperiamo Society, which has always been committed to the fight against waste, the Foundation has adopted an innovative and sustainable solution for the organization and visit of the exhibition of the finalists of the E.ART.H, contributing to generate POSITIVE IMPACT at social and environmental level, feeding the largest Italian circular ecosystem.