Beginning 18 February, an exhibition featuring the work of the finalists for the 2017 Purvītis Prize will be held in the Great Hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art. The Purvītis Prize is the largest visual arts award in Latvia. Established in 2008, it is awarded every other year to an artist or artist group representing Latvian art who have created excellent work that both reflects current events and embodies links to modern-day life, spiritual ideals, and absolute values. The winner of the prize (in the amount of 28,500 EUR) is decided by a specially assembled panel of international judges and experts. In 2009, the first winner of the Purvītis Prize was Katrīna Neiburga. She was followed in subsequent years by Kristaps Ģelzis (2011), Andris Eglītis (2013), and Miķelis Fišers (2015).
In evaluating the work of Latvia’s artist over the last two years, the following artists have been selected as finalists for the 2017 Purvītis Prize: Arturs Bērziņš, Ivars Drulle, Kristaps Epners, Atis Jākobsons, Voldemārs Johansons, Maija Kurševa, Anda Lāce, and Krišs Salmanis together with Anna Salmane un Kristaps Pētersons. The recipient of the prize is chosen by an international panel of experts comprising Māra Lāce (Director of the Latvian National Museum of Art), Jānis Zuzāns (Chair of the Board of SIA Alfor company, the principal supporter of LNMA), Thaddaeus Ropac (art gallerist, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Paris/Salzburg/London, Austria), Juliet Bingham (curator at Tate Modern, UK), Hedwig Fijen (Founding Director of the Manifesta International Foundation, the Netherlands), Rebecca Russo (art collector, Italy), Mark Allen Svede (art historian, lecturer at the Ohio State University, USA).
The winner of the 2017 Purvītis Prize will announced on 17 February.
http://www.purvisabalva.lv/
