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ART AWARD 2006

As in previous years, the Strabag Art Award 2006 was ceremoniously presented by Hans-Peter Haselsteiner in the Art Lounge in the Strabag House.

As in previous years, the rush of applicants was very large. 275 applicants submitted their documents, 66 participants were invited to submit three originals each.
The jury that met in March 2006 consisted of: Prof. Dr. Wieland Schmied, art historian, Katalin Néray, director of the Ludwig Museum in Budapest; Florian Steininger, curator of the BA-CA Art Forum, Vienna; Mag. Edith Raidl, contemporary art expert; Barbara Baum and Wilhelm Weiss, Strabag Art Forum.

On closer inspection of the submitted works, the astonishing maturity of very young artists was noticed, whose works this year were increasingly characterized by seriousness, authenticity and technical ability. It was noticeable that behind the seemingly playful lightness there is hard work, that superficial decorative elements have given way to deeper spiritual and more precise contents.
It is important for the young artist to maintain confidence in their own art and to see an art prize as a self-critical incentive. It is difficult not to bow to external influences and given trends, but to remain independent, inspired and promote talent through diligence and persistence.
Art serves to make the present clear and is a call to act, to define a clear goal. Art is not a decoration, not a therapy, it is essence that can make the essential visible in the supposedly inessential. There can be no winners and losers in art, but there can be (human) strengths and weaknesses.
Seeing through the eyes of the younger generation means for each jury member to exceed their own limits. Contemporary looking means giving up the retrospective, classic view and embarking on a new spectrum of emotionality and modernity that is not only based on empirical values ​​and comparative knowledge.
It is about a clear assessment of the current situation of young people in society. The artist determines the aesthetic production of today, which is characterized by youth culture and youthfulness, and paints the visionary picture of the future. Barbara Baum; Strabag Art Forum, Vienna

Bertram Hasenauer's androgynous, typologized figure portraits follow the viewer with their intense gaze. Deborah Sengl's ironic hybrid creatures of humans and animals are a cruel and ironic reminder of the lost harmony between living beings. Drago Persic's finely differentiated, black and white painting mysteriously reflects the everyday crime scene. Siggi Hofer's works with their architectural-mental model character transform themselves as structures of freedom in the head. Sevda Chkoutova's large-format children's drawings are a subtle testament to the love of life and hidden tragedy. Barbara Baum; Strabag Art Forum, Vienna

> Presse Artaward 2006
> Katalog Artaward 2006

Prize winner was
> SIGGI HOFER

Acknowledgments went to:
> SEVDA CHKOUTOVA
> DRAGO PERSIC
> DEBORAH SENGL
> BERTRAM HASENAUER