Second artist shortlist for the BMW Art Journey announced during Art Basel in Miami Beach

Art Basel and BMW continue their joint initiative to recognize and support emerging artists worldwide with the announcement of the shortlist for the second BMW Art Journey during this year’s Art Basel in Miami Beach. Like a mobile studio, the BMW Art Journey can take artists almost anywhere in the world to develop new ideas and envision new creative projects.

Today an international expert jury announced the following shortlist of three artists showing in Positions, the sector for emerging artists at Art Basel's Miami Beach show: Henning Fehr & Philipp Rühr at Galerie Max Mayer, Dusseldorf Henning Fehr (b.1985 in Erlangen, Germany) and Philipp Rühr (b. 1986 in Brühl, Germany) live and work in Cologne. The duo was awarded the Förderpreis des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen für junge Künstlerinnen und Künstler in 2014 and received a studio scholarship from Kölnischer Kunstverein and Imhoff Stiftung as well as a travel scholarship for Istanbul from the Kunststiftung NRW. Their practice is rooted in a shamanistic idea of cinema, in which the filmmaker is suspended between active participation and passive reflection. At Art Basel the artists present ‘Polyrhythm Technoir’ (2015), a three-part film that allegorizes the present state of electronic music. Each of the work’s three sections is concerned with a different topic – Polyrhythm, Phasing, and Synchronicity – each of which finds its expression in the manner of its representation and presentation.

Dan Bayles at François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles
Dan Bayles (b.1977 in Los Angeles, United States), was a recipient of the California Community Foundation Emerging Artist grant in 2008. Combining elements of photography, drawing, architectural rendering, collage, and abstraction with research- based investigations, Bayles’ work explores the underlying subtexts of politically sensitive sites.. Bayles’ installation at Art Basel in Miami Beach explores the current condition of the site of the former Black Mountain College, located outside of Ashville, North Carolina. Here the artist considers the implications of the site’s history, tracing a trajectory beyond established narratives and documenting an alternative history that is little known.

Fritzia Irizar at Arredondo \ Arozarena, Mexico City
Born in 1977 in Culiacán, Mexico, Fritzia Irizar graduated from the ENPEG “La Esmralda” National Arts Centre, Mexico City, in 2002. Her multi-disciplinary work draws from the history of Latin America, while at the same time tackling contemporary issues such as labor, wealth gaps, and political inequities. She was awarded the Antonio López Sáenz Painting State Award and Salón de Artes Plásticas Photography State Award in 2004, as well as the 13th Biennal de Artes Visuales del Noroeste award in 2011. Irizar exhibited at the Museo de la Ciudad, Mexico and the Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Mexico. For her showing at Art Basel, Irizar presents a study on Mexican symbolisms and their transformation over the past 105 years, both visually and emotionally. The project addresses the disappearance of an international emblem of liberty that was shown during the Mexican revolution as part of the national symbol. 

The three shortlisted artists now have until the end of January to develop a proposal for the journey of their dreams, with the winner to be announced in early 2016.

The members of the jury in Miami Beach are:
Juan Gaítan, Director of the Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art, Mexico City Massimiliano Gioni, Artistic Director New Museum, New York City Gabriele Horn, Director KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin Victoria Northoorn, Director Museo de Arte Moderna, Buenos Aires Bisi Silva, Director Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos The jury states: 'We are thrilled to announce the shortlist for the second BMW Art Journey. To all of them research and discovery seem to be an integral part of their artistic practice. We are looking forward to the ideas they will come up with for their proposals'.
In collaboration with the winning artist, the journey will be documented and shared with the public through publications, online and social media.
During this year’s Art Basel in Miami Beach, the first publication for the BMW Art Journey, published by Hatje Cantz, was presented. Looking at 70 different iconic projects, 'The Sense of Movement: When Artists Travel' conveys the fascination and importance as well as the artistic significance of artists’ journeys. For further information, please visit www.hatjecantz.de/bmw-art-journey.
BMW has supported Art Basel’s shows in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong as a long- term partner for many years.