Kentridge wins top Spanish art prize worth R730 000

ACCLAIMED South African artist William Kentridge has won Spain’s R730 000 Princess of Asturias prize for art for a body of work described as representing “the most outstanding contribution of the African continent to contemporary artistic creation of international scope”.

Kentridge was chosen from 43 nominees from 19 countries for the 2017 prize, which is to be awarded by Spain’s King Felipe VI in Oviedo, capital of the principality of Asturias, in October.

In choosing the 62-year-old South African, the judges said he was “one of the most multifaceted innovative artists on the international scene”, whose work not only “expressed emotions and metaphors related to the history and reality of his country”, but also “raise essential questions regarding the human condition”.

His work combined subjects “in which purely poetic and aesthetic investigation predominate alongside themes with socio-political content”.

The judges said Kentridge was a “meticulous and profound creator (who) has used drawing, following the best tradition, as his main instrument of artistic expression, not only through works on paper, collage, engraving and sculpture, but also through video art, animated films, installations and scenography, in both theatre and opera”.

He is acknowledged as having “received recognition from museums such as the Louvre and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which have hosted exhibitions covering the entire body of his work”.

The awards, first presented in 1981 and named for Crown Princess Leonor, the Princess of Asturias and heir to the Spanish throne, are given for art, communication and humanities, international co- operation, sports, social sciences, literature, technical and scientific research and concord. Award winners in the other categories have yet to be announced.

Two South Africans – Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk – are among previous recipients of Princess of Asturias awards, in their case for international co-operation, in 1992.

Other recipients include Mikhail Gorbachev ( international co-operation, 1989), Stephen Hawking (concord, 1989), Severiano Ballesteros (sports, 1989), Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat (international co-operation, 1994), Carl Lewis (sports, 1996), Woody Allen (arts, 2002), Bob Dylan (arts, 2007), David Attenborough (social sciences, 2009), Leonard Cohen ( literature, 2011) and Phillip Roth (literature, 2012).

PICTURE: EPA South African artist William Kentridge’s work was judged ‘the most outstanding contribution of the African continent to contemporary artistic creation’.