Kerstin Brätsch Wins Zurich Art Prize, Receives $160,000

(MENAFN- USA Art News) German painter Kerstin Brätsch has been named the recipient of the 2027 Zurich Art Prize, an annual award recognizing contemporary artists. The prize includes approximately $37,000 in cash and an additional $123,000 designated for production costs for a solo exhibition at the Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, which will open in June 2027.

Brätsch, who was born in Hamburg, Germany, is recognized for her vibrant, abstract paintings, elaborate installations, and her distinctive use of traditional art-making methods such as stucco marmo, stained glass, and marbling. She pursued her art education in New York and Berlin and currently teaches painting at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg. Her work has been exhibited globally for nearly two decades, with recent museum shows in Porto, Bonn, Oslo, Rome, and Munich.

The artist has a history of collaborating with craftsmen and artisans, noting in a 2022 ARTnews profile, which coincided with her inclusion in that year's Venice Biennale, that“sometimes, to build an image, you need four hands, two belonging to an artisan and two to the artist.” Her site-specific installation, Fossil Psychic Stone Mimicry, featuring four mosaic benches with plants, is currently on view on the roof of the Aspen Art Museum through March 2027. Another installation, MIMIKRY, transforms the café area of the Fridericianum in Kassel with marbled wallpaper, curtains, room dividers, and sculptural tables; it opened in 2023 and runs through early 2027. Additionally, the Gropius Bau in Berlin hosts BAUBAU, an immersive children's play space filled with Brätsch's designs.

The Zurich Art Prize is co-sponsored by the Museum Haus Konstruktiv and Zurich Insurance Company Ltd. Previous winners include Carsten Nicolai in 2007, Rosa Barba in 2026, Kapwani Kiwanga in 2022, and Robin Rhode in 2018.

Source: ARTnews

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