This Dubai-Based Iranian Artist Has Won Artissimia’s First OGR Award
Rokni Haerizadeh has been announced the winner of the inaugural OGR Award granted by Italy’s main contemporary art fair Artissima
Rokni Haerizadeh’s series Fictionville (2009-ongoing) was recognised by OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni, Torino, and an international jury consisting of Fawz Kabra, New York-based independent curator; Abaseh Mirvali, independent curator of contemporary art and architecture working between Mexico City and Berlin; and Nicola Ricciardi, artistic director of OGR – Officine Grandi Riparazioni, Torino.
Selected from the 206 galleries participating at Artissima, Haerizadeh’s works capture the nuances and overtones in the contemporary world, extending beyond traditional boundaries of painting to “transform news, photographs and images of current events into mythological visions that reveal a corrupt circus of humanised beasts and other unreal creatures, all inserted in a fantasy landscape,” reads a statement released by the jurors. The ‘moving paintings’ are made of rotoscope video works composed of thousands of individually painted stills intended to highlight the discourse between ideology and voyeurism regarding violence in the media, shared Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, his Dubai gallery.
The award, granted by Artissima in collaboration with the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, will see Haerizadeh’s works acquired by the foundation, as well as displayed at Torino’s new visual and performing arts centre.