Carnegie Art Award Winners 2010 Announced

One of the world's largest art prizes is awarded to Kristján Gudmundsson from Iceland for his exceptional sound-absorbing paintings. HM Queen Margrethe will award Gudmundsson with the prize of SEK 1 million in a ceremony at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen on 17 September 2009.

The prizewinners of the Carnegie Art Award 2010 are announced today. A unanimous jury has awarded the Icelandic artist Kristján Gudmundsson (born 1941) first prize of SEK 1,000,000 for his exceptional sound-absorbing paintings in which he characteristically combines materials and concept into an artwork filled with content. Gudmundsson's work is also on view in a major separate exhibition that recently opened at the National Gallery of Iceland in Reykjavik.

Second prize of SEK 600,000 goes to the Swedish artist Kristina Jansson (born 1967) for her seductive, distinctive and psychologically charged paintings that pose questions about memory, perception and the space.

Swedish Felix Gmelin (born 1962) is awarded third prize of SEK 400,000 kronor for his installation Ambiguous Gestures, a multifaceted comment on both a personal history and on the Vienna actionism of the 1960s, where the body often replaced the canvas as the basis of the piece.

The grant of SEK 100,000 to a young artist is awarded to the Danish artist, Marie Søndergaard Lolk (born 1981) whose complex multi-layered work explores the materiality of art.

The renowned six-man jury chaired by the Finnish Cultural Counsellor, Museum Director Emerita, Tuula Arkio, consists of: Gunnar J. Árnason, lecturer at the Academy of Arts in Reykjavik; Iwona Blazwick, Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London; Ina Blom, Professor at Oslo University, Mikkel Bogh; Director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen; and Lars Nittve, Director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

HM Queen Margrethe will award the prizes at an official ceremony at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen on 17 September 2009. This will also see the opening of the travelling exhibition, comprising the 23 Nordic artists in the Carnegie Art Award 2010 that the jury handpicked from a total of 148 nominees. The exhibition will tour between the Nordic capitals, London, Beijing and Nice over an 18-month period.

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Participating artists in the Carnegie Art Award 2010:
Kjersti G. Andvig NO; Anastasia Ax SE; Tone Kristin Bjordam NO; Milena Bonifacini DK; A K Dolven NO; Saara Ekström FI; Mads Gamdrup DK; Felix Gmelin SE; Kristján Guðmundsson IS; Kristina Jansson SE; Sergej Jensen DK; Camilla Løw NO; Jukka Mäkelä FI; Ylva Ogland SE; Jorma Puranen FI; Seppo Renvall FI; Torben Ribe DK; Sigrid Sandström SE; Astrid Sylwan SE; Egill Sæbjörnsson IS; Marie Søndergaard Lolk DK; Marianna Uutinen FI; Hannu Väisänen FI

The jury for 2010 consists of:
Tuula Arkio, Counsellor for Cultural Affairs, Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, Museum Director Emerita (Chariman)
Gunnar J. Árnason, Lecturer at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and art critic
Ina Blom, art critic, curator and art historian, Associate Professor at the Department of Archaeology, History of Art and Conservation at the University of Oslo
Mikkel Bogh, Headmaster, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Visual Arts, Copenhagen
Lars Nittve, director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm
Iwona Blazwick, director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London, England (international jury member)