Adrian Villar Rojas Awarded with the Benesse Prize During the Venice Biennial

This site-specific installation of monumental sculptures is based on the theories of multiverses, or parallel universes, which state that many different universes could coexist; thus, the large clay figures displayed over the whole space of the Artiglierie could be seen as simultaneous apparitions of these alternative worlds in ours, calling the attention to the other paths that humankind could have taken during its evolutionary history. Pushing this concept even further, the artist will develop a similar massive piece to be placed at the Jardin de Tuileries, Paris, during 2011, with the cooperation of SAM ART Projects and the Musée du Louvre.
During the opening, Adrian Villar Rojas' work has been awarded with the 9th Benesse Prize addressed to a "promising artist trying to break new artistic ground with an experimental and pioneering spirit", by a jury composed by Hervé Chandès (General Director, Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain), Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (Artistic Director, Documenta 13), Lu Jie (Director and Curator, Long March Project), and Fram Kitagawa (General Director, Setouchi International Art Festival).

In the words of the curator Rodrigo Alonso, "Adrián Villar Rojas is a talented young artist who has been receiving important critical attention during the last years. With him representing Argentina at Venice Biennial we deepen our compromise with the emergent production, insufflate energy and vitality to the new venue, and bet on the future by creating a platform to establish an ongoing dialogue with the international art scene."
"His work possesses a distinct personal tone. It combines formal experimentation with the construction of a narrative, which allows him to reflect on art, its forms of appearance, and its meanings, as if it were the end of times and the end of the world. His last pieces derive from a story, which speculates on the present from a hypothetical future, unfolding a political dimension of fantasy. Focused on that end of the world—ours—he suggests that we rethink the place of art creation as a shelter for existence, passion and sensibility."

"At the same time, Villar Rojas sees his work as an alternative to the traditional Latin American art production, linked to simplicity and ready-made. For this reason, he embarks on ambitious and complex projects, which intend to hold a dialogue with the works of his international peers at the same level of potentiality and risk."

Adrián Villar Rojas (Rosario, 1980) studied Fine Arts at the University of Rosario, Argentina. His work has been exhibited at international venues such as Serpentine Gallery (London), CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts (San Francisco), Galería Kurimanzutto (Mexico, DF), Akademie der Künste (Berlin), Galería Ruth Benzacar (Buenos Aires), Museo de Arte Moderno de San Pablo (Brazil), X Bienal de Cuenca (Ecuador), II Bienal del Fin del Mundo (Ushuaia) and II Trienal Poligráfica de San Juan (Puerto Rico), among others. During 2011, he has also been appointed for 12th Istanbul Biennial.