Thao Nguyen Phan wins the first Han Nefkens Foundation – Loop Barcelona Video Art Award

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Thao Nguyen Phan, Daughter of the Water God, video still, 2015 (On-going)
Nine finalists had been selected for the award, which aims to grow the visibility of young Asian artists’ video production.

 

The prize is part of a bigger movement led by the Foundation, also featuring the establishment of the ARCO Video Art Award (Madrid), the BUK Museum Korean Art Award (Seoul) and the CAC Award for Latin-American Video Art (Quito).

 

Born in Vietnam in 1987, Thao Nguyen will receive $15,000 for the production of a work to be presented at the Fundació Joan Miró in November 2019 to coincide with Loop Barcelona 2019 – the fair of reference for video art.

 

The jury – consisting of Han Nefkens, founder of the Han Nefkens Foundation; Emilio Álvarez, founding Co-Director of LOOP Barcelona; Marko Daniel, Director of the Fundació Joan Miró; Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director of the Serpentine Galleries; and Barbara London, Associate Curator at MoMA – singled out Thao Nguyen Phan’s “strong eye and, remarkably, for an artist of her age […] a voice that is both unique and incisive.”

 

The eight other finalists were Chi-Yu Wu, Yin-Ju Chen, Sow-Yee AU, Tzu Nyen Ho, Isaac Chong Wai, Chia-Wei Hsu, Nao Yoshigai and Wong Ping.