COAL Award 2010 – FIRST EDITION

March 30, 2010

The COAL prize will be awarded on March 30 to a contemporary artist’s project on the theme of the environment. The winner will be chosen among ten finalists by a jury of personalities from the world of contemporary art and sustainable development.

The 10 finalist projects were selected among 150 projects received in the framework of the COAL call for projects launched last fall among contemporary artists on the theme of the environment. The ten finalists testify to a young French scene committed to the environment and its issues (climate change, erosion of biodiversity, globalization issues…) offering a wide variety of approaches, whether scientific, humorous, mystical, utopian, geopolitical or pop. They demonstrate that the artist is the bearer of innovation, de-dramatization, solution and collaboration between stakeholders, thus breaking with an anxiety-inducing environmental discourse and an uncommitted art world.

The ten finalist projects are: Object Oriented Art, Alalia; Pascal Bircher, The door to hell; Thierry Boutonnier, Domestication; Hehe, Green cloud; Valère Costes, Residence in the Guyanese rainforest; Magali Daniaux & Cédric Pigot, Final melt; Olivier Leroi, A flag for Antarctica; Frédéric Pradeau, Sea water purifier; Momoko Seto, Planet Z; Philippe Terrier-Hermann, The world.
In addition, artist Marie Velardi ‘s Label eco-publication project will be implemented in Coal’s publication, L’Artiste partie prenante (Fall 2010).

A multidisciplinary jury, composed of personalities from contemporary art, cultural institutions, ecology and sustainable development will meet on March 30 for the deliberation and awarding of the prize: Paul Ardenne, art critic; Nathalie Blanc, geographer; Ari Brodach, director of sustainable development for the city of Lille; Anne-Marie Charbonneaux, president of the Centre National des Arts Plastiques; Denis Couvet, ecologist; Lorenzo Fiaschi, director, Galleria Continua; Fabrice Hyber, artist; Jean-Pierre Sicard, managing director of CDC Climat; Guy Tortosa, inspector general in charge of public commissions at the Délégation aux Arts Plastiques.

The COAL Prize, worth 5,000 euros, is supported by a private donor, a partnership with the Centre National des Arts Plastiques and the support of the Ministry of Culture and Communication.