The twelfth edition of PIPA Prize was marked by significant changes. Taking on the reflections ignited by the pandemic since the beginning of 2020 – year in which we decided to postpone the exhibition and to declare all the Finalists as Winners –, we took the first decision of 2021: to set a ten-year career limit for the nominated artists. Unlike previous years, when we opted to support intermediate trajectories, this time we wanted to foster recent artistic projects. Thus, we can support artists who aren’t yet completely stablished in the institutional circuit.
As in 2020, this year also brought us times of mourning, social isolation and change of plans in several aspects. Despite the challenges, we made an effort to maintain the timeless and continuous encouragement of Brazilian contemporary art and decided, after the decrease of Covid-19 cases, to hold the postponed exhibition from 2020. It was great to see old partners and to be able to reinforce old desires of occupying public cultural spaces in the city. This year, we were welcomed at Paço Imperial, in Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to the effort of resuming face-to-face meetings, we carried on the objetive of offering a window into contemporary national art: we reached 534 artists’ webpages and we held another Take Over edition, this time with the Shortlisted Artists.
We prepared a retrospective of the PIPA Prize 2021 events to remember some of this year’s highlights and to wish a happier and lighter 2022 to our public.
PIPA 2021 Shortlisted Artists
In this twelfth edition we presented changes in relation to the format of previous years, since we chose to focus on the production of artists with more recent trajectories. The participating artists of 2021 are those whose first exhibition took place no longer than 10 years ago.
The five Shortlisted Artists show us how plural the Brazilian artistic production is, mixing diverse languages and knowledges and being developed across the country. They were chosen by the Board, after being nominated by the Nominating Committee.
They are:
Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro
Denilson Baniwa
Ilê Sartuzi
Marcela Bonfim
Ventura Profana
After 11 years of awarding artists who are more well known in the national art circuit, in 2021 we had a change of profile. This year, all five of them were declared winners, in contrast to other editions in which there was only one winner. The five artists shortlisted by the Board received, each one, a donation of R$ 10.000 and they participated in an online exhibition between September 13 and October 16.
Check out the Takeover made by each artist:
SHORTLISTED TAKEOVER 2021: ILÊ SARTUZI
SHORTLISTED TAKEOVER 2021: DENILSON BANIWA
SHORTLISTED TAKEOVER 2021: MARCELA BONFIM
SHORTLISTED TAKEOVER 2021: VENTURA PROFANA
SHORTLISTED TAKEOVER 2021: CASTIEL VITORINO BRASILEIRO
PIPA Online
After two rounds of voting, with 59 artists participating on the first and 23 on the second, and with a total of 33,141 thousand votes, we had, in September, the winners of PIPA Online 2021: Daiara Tukano and Ruth Albernaz. Each of them received a donation of R$5.000.
“Morî’ erenkato eseru”, image of the activation performed by Daiara Tukano and Jaider Esbell in the exhibition “Véxoa: we know” at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, photo by Levi Fanan
“Shamanic Flight, 2014, acrylic on canvas”, 80 x 80 cm, Shamanic Flights Exhibition
Winners of 2020 and PIPA Institute’s collection exhibitions
From September 9 to November 21, Paço Imperial of Rio de Janeiro held the exhibitions of the Winners of 2020 and of the PIPA Institute collection, in addition to the Shortlisted Artists of 2021 being presented. At the Terreiro gallery and at the main courtyard of the museum, the four winners of PIPA Prize 2020 were gathered: Gê Viana, Maxwell Alexandre, Randolpho Lamonier and Renata Felinto. Still at the Terreiro gallery, the five Shortlisted Artists of PIPA 2021, aforementioned, were presented.
At another gallery of the museum, called Praça dos Arcos, the PIPA Institute displayed some of the works that it acquired and commissioned over the past few years, made by contemporary Brazilian artists who are part of the history of PIPA Prize, such as Aleta Valente, Ana Frango Elétrico, Ana Paula Oliveira, André Griffo, Barbara Wagner, Daniel Beerstecher, Elias Maroso, Ibã Huni Kuin (Isaías Salles), Jaider Esbell and Yukie Hori + Inês Bonduki.
Acquired works
This year, we had the pleasure to announce acquisitions from 6 artists + an artists duo: Ana Frango Elétrico, who entered the collection with 3 patterns and a painting; Eduardo Berliner, who now has 5 more paintings in the collection; Ilê Sartuzi joined the collection with 3 videos and an installation; 3 paintings by Maxwell Alexandre, from the Brown is Paper series, were acquired, forming a set with the artwork that he, as one of the winners of 2020, donated for the collection; 7 photographs by Romy Pocztaruk, PIPA 2018 finalist; two works by Elias Maroso, who was already part of the Displacement collection with two other pieces; and the work “De noite penso no dia, de dia penso na noite / 夜はを思い、は夜を思 う (Yoru ha hiru wo omoi, hiru ha yoru wo omou)”, commissioned and acquired from Yukie Hori + Inês Bonduki.
To check out the Displacement collection, click here.
PIPA Podcast
In 2021, we produced the second season of PIPA Podcast, with new guests and also with the curator of the PIPA Institute, Luiz Camillo Osorio, who had already participated in the first one. Up to now, there were more than 14 thousand downloads. Check out all the episodes here (the audio is only available in Portuguese).
Texts from Luiz Camillo Osorio’s column
Beyond the traditional interviews with the finalists of the Prize, Luiz Camillo Osorio also published a few texts this year. Check out the complete list here.
Closer to PIPA
In April of 2021, we started a series of posts on PIPA Prize’s websites and social media called “Closer to PIPA: the artist speaks in the Institute collection”.
We select, periodically, an art piece that was acquired by the Institute and ask the artist to talk a little bit about the work: be it the creative process; the ideia behind the piece; how it connects with the artist’s production; or any other aspect the person would like to share. The goal is to bring the audience closer to the artist’s universe and to the “Displacement” collection from the PIPA Institute, which was established in 2010 to support, help document and promote the development of Brazilian contemporary art, and which has the Prize as one of its initiatives.
To access all the posts, click here.
We would like to thank the artists and the Nominating Committee for being part of this edition of the Prize, and to the Board for another year of partnership. And, of course, to our public for accompanying us in the mission of promoting Brazilian contemporary art. We wish a great 2022 to everyone!