Unseen and Grolsch are delighted to announce that Lana Mesić (1987, Croatia) is the winner of the first Grolsch Unseen Residency. The residency offers a two-month scholarship in London early next year, encouraging this emerging artist to create a new body of work with an unconventional approach to the urban creative landscape. The resulting work will be exhibited at Unseen Photo Fair & Festival 2017.

Out of 61 premiering artists at Unseen Photo Fair 2016, an international jury comprising of Jenny Nordquist (Artistic Director, Landskrona Foto Festival, SE), Karin Andreasson (Picture Editor, The Guardian, SE) and Alison Nordström (Independent Scholar & Curator, US) selected Lana Mesić with her project ‘Souls, ties and a pile of carrots’ as the winner of the Grolsch Unseen Residency.

Lana Mesić: “I feel incredibly happy and grateful for the opportunity to explore what London and this residency have to offer. Especially to be able to continue doing my research on the workings of failure in this magnificent context. My career grew alongside Unseen and you can even say that major milestones of my practice have been on display there. I am extremely proud and honoured that I can add this to our joint timeline!”

With her project, Mesić will investigate London as a prominent global financial capital and the impact it had on the economic crisis. Recently her work has dealt with the theme of failure and how this construct works. She will continue to explore the possible ways in which to visualise value and failure through various experiments. Mesić: “I truly believe that a failure is never a failure if we learn something from it.”

According to the jury: “Lana’s attempt to visualise the construction of value is an intriguing proposal, and we anticipate that her work will take new and surprising directions as she interacts with people and objects in London. We are confident that Lana’s work will benefit from the Grolsch Unseen Residency in London and that this is the perfect time in her career for her to undertake it.”

Grolsch Unseen Residency                                                            
Grolsch and Unseen have launched the Grolsch Unseen Residency to encourage emerging artists to look at the urban environment with fresh eyes. Both partners share a common perspective – that you have to challenge conventions if you want to create something new and surprising. The residency annually awards an artist a two-month scholarship over the winter/spring period. The 2017 residency will be held in London, where the artist will be working closely with professional photographers and other leaders of the local creative industry. The artist will create a new body of work with an alternative positive approach to the urban creative landscape. The resulting work will be unveiled at the following edition of Unseen Photo Fair & Festival.

Ronald van Amerongen, Grolsch Global Brand Director: “We are delighted to support Lana in her unconventional approach to London’s financial world through the Grolsch Unseen Residency. Lana’s collaborative work, which will be realised in London in 2017, reflects Grolsch’s commitment to adding value to the local urban creative landscape. We are looking forward to seeing the end result at Unseen Photo Fair & Festival in September 2017”