The exhibition entitled L’Oranger by Jeanne Graff, displays the works of nine leading figures who studied visual arts and graduated from HEAD – Genève in June 2016. After some research through conversations and visits, the curator set up a group made up of Guillaume Dénervaud, Mathias Good, Yu-Wen Julia Hung, Viola Lukacs, Real Madrid, Aude Richards, Sabrina Röthlisberger, Gaia Vincensini, Galaxia Wang. Although very different from one another, their artistic approaches coincide in many ways. Aligned with questioning characteristics to the latest initiatives of Jeanne Graff, the exhibition is the result of a collective process, fluctuating between the development of a transitory community of artists and the affirmation of unique worlds, of positions which, put together, reflect shared and intimate concerns of a generation of emerging artists.

The New Heads – BNP Paribas Foundation Art Awards ceremony took place last Wednesday 18 January at HEAD – Genève’s exhibition space LiveInYourHead at the opening which attracted a wide audience of students, teachers and a significant number of professionals from the field of art and culture as well as passers-by interested in discovering the works of this new generation of artists. Awards went to Sabrina Röthlisberger and Gaia Vincensini as well as Galaxia Wang, while Guillaume Dénervaud was granted a prize by the newspaper Le Temps. The artists, who graduated with an MA in Fine Arts in 2016, feature in curator Jeanne Graff’s exhibition L’Oranger, which will be on show until 19 February 2017.

This year, the jury consisted of Modern Art Museum of the City of Paris Curator, Anne Dressen, Beijing Si Shang Art Museum Director, Linyao Kiki Liu, Francesca Pia, Director of the Gallery of the same name in Zurich, General secretary of The Nestlé Foundation for Art, Rosmarie Richner, and Basel’s LISTE Art Fair Manager, Jacqueline Uhlmann. The jury’s spokesperson, Anne Dressen, highlighted the coherence and diversity of the exhibition, the quality and power of the works presented, and the clarity and richness of the presentations that the artists gave in front of the jury.

The first prize was a tie between Sabrina Röthlisberger and Gaia Vincensini, saluting their innovative approach, which combines a form of poetry with an individual and collective commitment to the world. The second prize, awarded by Switzerland’s BNP Paribas staff, was given by the Foundation’s Secretary General Igor Joly to Galaxia Wang for her immersive installation, which plunges the audience into her bright and colourful world. Each prize worth CHF 12,000 represents significant financial support for the development of these young artists’ work. The award also offers them the opportunity to integrate their work in the collection put together by the BNP Paribas Switzerland Foundation.

Emmanuel Grandjean and Elisabeth Chardon of newspaper Le Temps chose Guillaume Dénervaud for the originality of his drawing, writing and printing work. A multi-faceted work by the artist will be produced in the weeks to come for the newspaper’s collection and will be offered to subscribers during the spring.

Similar to last year, the ArtGenève Art Fair partnered up with the New Heads – Fondation BNP Paribas Art Awards to host a collective exhibition, also designed by Jeanne Graff, that will present the work of all shortlisted candidates from 26 to 29 January. A catalogue of the exhibition will also be available, designed by Jeanne Graff and laid out by Berlin-based Swiss graphic designer Dan Solbach, which includes a series of notebooks and inserts by the exhibiting artists, in addition to some texts and a collective interview with said exhibiting artists, put together by Parisian critic and publisher Catherine Chevalier.