The Sevillian artist Norberto Alvarez Gil has won the BMW prize for painting, endowed with 25,000 euros, for his work ‘Escalera Fala 2’ in the 37th edition of the artistic contest. For her part, the Mario Antolin ScholarshipAmaya Suberviola, from Navarre, received it for her work ‘STP-014’. In the category of Digital art, introduced in the awards this year, the winning work was ‘Liquid cats’ by Irene Molina from Granada, which was awarded 6,000 euros. Finally, in the newly released young talent award –another novelty of this edition, which recognizes the best work by authors between the ages of thirteen and eighteen–, the jury’s favorite was the Navarran teenager Andrea Hernández, with her ‘Self-portrait with a float’.
The jury, chaired by Enrique de Ybarra, has been integrated by Tomás Paredes, Carmen Iglesias and Luis María Anson. The finalist artists have been Rosalía Banet, with her work ‘Cuerpos fluctuantas’; Raúl Collado, with his work ‘The Witch’; Gloria Martín Montaño, with her oil on canvas ‘Books and things’; Luciano Suárez da Rocha, with his work ‘Goodbye, contemporary art’; Álex Marco, with ‘Resets 120fps’, and Borja Bonafuente Gonzalo, with the work ‘SWR!’. For their part, the finalists in the Digital Art category were Aissa Santiso, with the work ‘Vboot 01’; Carlos Irijalba, with ‘Shape of thought’, and Lolita 111000, with the 3D photograph ‘Mother’s instinct’.
The winning works have been selected by the jury among the more than 3,300 that were sent to the competition, 18 percent more than last year. With his award-winning work, ‘Ladder Fala -title that alludes to the two stairs that the artist represents as a union of the spaces in the piece- Álvarez Gil has used the technique of acrylic on canvas to, as he explains, «praise the architecture carried out by the Portuguese studio Fala Atelier and all its very plastic and visual form of expression». An architecture studio that, according to the artist, seduced him and inspired him to carry out this work.
High female participation
The awards ceremony was held at the Royal Theater of Madrid -as is tradition- with the assistance of Queen Sofiawhich once again shows its support for culture, and Princess Irene of Greeceas well as the presence of authorities such as Joan Francesc Marco, general director of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (Inaem), the Councilor for Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Madrid City Council, Andrea Levy, among others.
The president of the BMW Group in Spain and Portugal, Manuel Terroba, emphasized in his speech at the high female participation that there has been in this edition of the award, in which almost half of the registered candidacies, specifically 42%, have corresponded to women. An upward trend that increases year after year. In addition, he has alluded to the essence and origin of the human being, ideas on which the artistic narrative of this edition of the award reflects under the concept ‘Circular’assuring that it is there “where we can find the way to evolve and progress taking into account that sometimes what really matters is what is simple”.
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One of the most important novelties of the BMW painting prize has been the introduction this year of the new category of Digital art, which seeks to reward the search for new forms of artistic expression adapting to changing times. With this new award, it is also intended to address an approach, through art, to the new generations of both creators and collectors or the general public, increasingly familiar with new technologies.
BMW’s commitment to approach the new generations is also manifested in the second novelty introduced in the contest this year: the new BMW Young Talent Award -which replaces the Youngest Talent award from previous years- with which the search for talent and the ability to create is broadened to ages between thirteen and eighteen. Although in previous editions, BMW’s commitment to the talent of the youngest was already manifested in the Antolín Scholarship that is awarded each year, in this 37th edition it is clearly reinforced with this new award.
The musical interpretation has been carried out by double light and it has become a tribute to young and female talent with the presence of four female artists who have accompanied the singer on stage; the violinist Sofía Rodríguez, 12 years old; Tania Martín, principal dancer of the Antonio Najarro company since 2020; the guitarist Vicky Oliveros and the pianist Karina Azizova.
Before beginning her performance, Luz Casal dedicated a few words to the audience in which she reflected on the cycle of life and the need to make a circular journey as a way of representing our own essence and returning to our origins. Because, as the artist said, “being born, growing, loving, doubting, choosing, making a mistake, laughing or crying… feeling, after all, is the powerful energy that makes us unique and unrepeatable.” As every year, it has benefited the World in Harmony Foundation, chaired by Princess Irene of Greece. This year, the funds raised will be used entirely to alleviate and alleviate the suffering caused by the war in Ukraine. In addition, there was a memory of the former Minister of Culture José Guirao, who was part of the jury for these awards.