Ruudt Peters among the selected for Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2019
Ruudt Peters is one of 29 shortlisted artists for the 2019 edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize with his work ‘Suctus’. Consisting of bog oak, silver/amber. Each finalist’s work will be exhibited at Isamu Noguchi’s indoor stone garden ‘Heaven’ at the Sogetsu Kaikan in Tokyo, from 26 June to 22 July, 2019.
The third edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize presents a diverse spectrum of techniques, media and modes of expression and the finalists range from recently graduated and newly emerging artists to well-known names and leaders in their fields.
Excellence in modern craftsmanship
The LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2019 recognises the shortlisted artists as having made fundamentally important contributions to the development of contemporary craft. The legacy of the exhibition will be documented in a catalogue containing each of the finalists’ works.
The annual prize was launched by the LOEWE FOUNDATION in 2016 to celebrate excellence, artistic merit and newness in modern craftsmanship. This year’s finalists were chosen by a panel of experts from over 2,500 submissions by artists representing more than 100 countries. The number of submissions rose by 44% demonstrating the growing significance and influence of the prize in creative communities at an international level.
The award, which was conceived by creative director Jonathan Anderson, aims to acknowledge the importance of craft in today’s culture and recognise working artists whose talent, vision and will to innovate promise to set a new standard for the future. The prize is a tribute to LOEWE’s beginnings as a collective craft workshop in 1846.
Jonathan Anderson stated at the award’s inception: ‘Craft is the essence of LOEWE. As a house, we are about craft in the purest sense of the word. That is where our modernity lies, and it will always be relevant.’
Outstanding works
For the 2019 edition, a panel of nine experts convened in Madrid for two days to review all the entries to the prize and select the shortlist. In their deliberations, the panel sought to identify the most outstanding works in terms of technical accomplishment, innovation and artistic vision.
Regarding the selection process, Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, Executive Secretary of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize Experts Panel, stated: ‘In a time when contemporary craft is constantly discussed, the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize sets the level of skills, will and artistic ambition for which craft should strive. The third LFCP exhibition is both a portrait of the best contemporary craft at an international level and a demonstration of what the LOEWE FOUNDATION considers craft to be.’
From this shortlist, a jury composed of 11 leading figures from the world of design, architecture, journalism, criticism and museum curatorship, including Jennifer Lee, winner of the LFCP 2018, will select the winner of the LFCP 2019. The prize awarded to the winner is 50,000 Euros and the announcement will be made on 25 June 2019, at the opening of the LFCP 2019 exhibition at Isamu Noguchi’s indoor stone garden ‘Heaven’ at the Sogetsu Kaikan in Tokyo.
Images: 1) Ruudt Peters, Netherlands, ‘Suctus’, bog oak, silver/amber, in different shapes, 50 x 100 x 40 mm each. 2018, 2 and 3) Loewe Foundation
