'Hierba en movimiento' by Maider López, wins the 2023 Biennale d'Art Diputació de Tarragona prize

The Museum of Modern Art of the Tarragona County Council (MAMT) hosted on September 15 the awards ceremony of the Tarragona County Council Art Biennial 2023 and the opening of the exhibition of the winning work ( of the artist Maider López), of the two that have obtained access (by Antonio Manuel Menchen and Daniel Moreno) and of the ten finalists (by Pedro Rogerio Aires, Judit Bou, Mariona Cañadas-Pedro Murúa, Daniel Alberto De la Barra , Pau Magrané, Sofia Montenegro, Quim Packard, Ignasi Prat, Maria Remedios Silvestre, Marta Van Tartwijk). Two of the selected works are by authors from the demarcation of Tarragona: specifically 8 Cercle, by Pau Magrané (la Selva del Camp) and Dibuixos per recerca so taules, by Quim Packard (Almoster), the latter has received a special mention by the jury.

All the works can be visited until next December 10 at the Museum of Modern Art, where the visitor can contemplate the artistic proposals resulting from the reformulation (in 2021) of this historic contest, which merged the prizes of painting and sculpture in one in order to adapt to new creative trends.

The presentation of the prizes for the Art Biennale 2023 was presided over by the president of the Provincial Council of Tarragona, Noemí Llauradó, with the participation of the representative of the institution Josep Baiges; from the territorial director of Culture, Lurdes Malgrat; of the director of the MAMT, Manel Margalef and several of the artists awarded in this edition. Llauradó has highlighted that the Biennale exhibition becomes "a showcase of the latest artistic trends, with innovative proposals that fuse different disciplines, tools and languages". The president of the Provincial Council referred to the prestige that the Art Biennale has achieved, a competition through which "we give creators the opportunity to make visible and share their work and to make themselves known better among society".

This year, an award of 6,000 euros was awarded to the winning work and two prizes of 3,000 euros. In addition, 600 euros have been awarded to the works selected for the exhibition. The unification of the awards responds to a change in the artistic paradigm observed in recent years. For this reason, works of any style that are framed within the current concept of visual arts have been accepted, regardless of their discipline and without the need to attend to any prior classification, with the aim of promoting the interest and complicity of the authors.

The winning works

The work of Maider López Hierba en movimiento from Donostia has been the winner of the 2023 Art Biennial of the Tarragona Provincial Council. It is an audiovisual creation that reflects on the rural world and nature through the action of mowing and harvesting grass collectively. The piece, which shows agricultural tasks and production systems, makes visible the constant transformation of nature and reflects on rurality. The winning project has obtained a total of 6,000 euros.

The tickets, worth 3,000 euros each, have been given to the works: Cel Inferno by Daniel Moreno (Vilassar de Mar) and Sin título by Antonio Manuel Menchen (Madrid). Daniel Moreno's work is a video installation that deals with obsolescence and nostalgia in audiovisual formats and reflects on material fetishism, the notion of scarcity in collecting and economic speculation based on sentimentality . And as for Antonio Manuel Menchen's work, Sin título (one-ink silkscreen on plasterboard, on metal frame) is part of a series of works that lie between sculpture and painting and that they intend to continue with an investigation in the field of the image based on a work of collecting photographs that the author has been developing in the last fifteen years.

The selected works are Intersection, by Pedro Rogerio Aires ; Tomatoes, by Judit Bou ; Warp of August, by Mariona Cañadas and Pedro Murúa ; Destierro, by Daniel Alberto de la Barra ; Three Pens, by Maider López ; 8 Circle, by Pau Magrané ; What has always been there, by Sofia Montenegro ; Drawings for research on tables, by Quim Packard ; The tapestry of the king by Ignasi Prat; Do you know how to have a body?' by Maria Remedios Silvestre and Hand movie, by Marta Van Tartwijk .

Successful participation in the Biennale

A total of 163 artists from all over the State have participated in the last edition of the Art Biennial of the Tarragona Council. Of the total number of works that have been presented this year, 32 are by authors from the Tarragona area and 131 come from other places in Catalonia and throughout the country.

The Biennial of Art is a competition of artistic creation of reference in the demarcation of Tarragona and throughout the country and the State. Promoted through the Museum of Modern Art (MAMT) of the Provincial Council, the Art Biennale was born 79 years ago with the aim of promoting creativity, attracting talent and consolidating the MAMT as a driving force and showcase of new trends artistic