Mexican artist Andrés Anza was announced as the winner of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, presented by Loewe Creative Director Jonathan Anderson and actress Aubrey Plaza at a ceremony in Paris.
The Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, which was founded in 2016, aims to highlight the continuing contribution of craft to the culture of our time by acknowledging and supporting international artisans who demonstrate an exceptional ability to create objects of superior aesthetic value. This year, more than 3 900 submissions by artisans representing 124 nationalities were received, with the 30 finalists representing 16 countries and regions. The winning entry earned a prize of 50 000 euros.
A jury comprising 13 leading figures from the world of design, architecture, journalism, criticism and museum curatorship – including Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu, architect and industrial designer Patricia Urquiola, Venice Golden Lion winner Minsuk Cho, and Loewe’s Anderson – selected the winner and three special mentions from the 30 finalists. The finalists’ work is on show in a special exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo until 9 June 2024.
Anza was chosen as the winner of the 2024 prize for his life-size spiked totemic ceramic sculpture titled ‘I only know what I have seen’, 2023. Born in Mexico’s north-eastern city of Monterrey, Anza uses ceramics as ‘a medium to explore the abstractions and dualities that dwell in the realm of the imaginary’.
On Anza’s winning piece, the foundation wrote: ‘Foregrounding the malleability of ceramic material, Anza explores the duality between the natural world and the realities we create inside our minds. An otherworldly monument to awareness, this towering ceramic structure enlivens the imagination like an amorphous being, describing a process of communion between refractory clay and the artist’s inner realm.’
The jury awarded three special mentions for 2024: Miki Asai for their work ‘Still Life’, 2023; Heechan Kim for ‘#16’, 2023; and Emmanuel Boos for ‘Coffee Table Comme un Lego’, 2023.
‘Craft is always going to be modern. It is about creating objects that have a formula of their own and speak their own language, creating a dialogue that didn’t exist before. It is about newness as much as it is about tradition,’ said Anderson.
Accompanying the physical exhibition is a digital exhibition presenting the 30 final projects alongside information on each artist, their process and a series of exclusive studio tours.
VISIT THE DIGITAL EXHIBITION HERE
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