Bahraini artist Nasser Alzayani wins Richard Mille Art Prize worth $50,000

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

Louvre Abu Dhabi and Swiss watchmaking brand Richard Mille revealed Nasser Alzayani as the winner of the first edition of the Richard Mille Art Prize worth $50,000 at an exclusive ceremony that took place at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Nasser was one of seven artists shortlisted for the award in October 2021 and showcased in the exhibition Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2021. Nasser is a Bahraini artist living and working in Abu Dhabi. Nasser’s practice expresses research-driven documentation of time and place through text and image, as well as found and cast objects.

Incorporating themes of factual and fictional archaeology, his most recent work explores alternative narratives of collective experience. Nasser’s group exhibitions include Kissing Through A Curtain, MASS MoCA, North Adams, USA (2020); The Youth Takeover, Jameel Art Centre, Dubai, UAE (2020); Glass Triennial, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, US (2019); scapes, Gelman Gallery, Providence, USA (2019); Bayn, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2017); and Watering the distant, deserting the near, Al Riwaq, Bahrain (2016).

Nasser is a recipient of the Fundación Casa Wabi x ArtReview Residency (2017), the Villa Lena Foundation Residency (2018), and the Cultural Foundation Art Residency in Abu Dhabi (2021). He has an MFA in Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design (2019) and a BArch from American University of Sharjah (2015).

Nasser was selected by a distinguished four-member jury including Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Chairman of UAE Unlimited, an avid art collector and patron of the Centre Pompidou, the British Museum and Sharjah Art Foundation; Christine Macel, Chief Curator at the Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou and an art critic; Hala Wardé, founding architect of HW Architecture and long-term partner of Jean Nouvel, who was the leader of the Louvre Abu Dhabi project; and Dr Souraya Noujaim, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director.

Peter Harrison, CEO of Richard Mille EMEA, said: “It is an honour to join you at Louvre Abu Dhabi under the incredible dome that crowns this architectural masterpiece, to award the first-ever winner of the Richard Mille art prize. “Not only are we celebrating our incredible partnership with Louvre Abu Dhabi but we also have the immense pleasure of witnessing Nasser Alzayani receive the coveted prize. Nasser is paving the way for future artists across the region to join this initiative and encourage all creative talent to take part.”

“We are delighted to announce Nasser Alzayani as the winner of the first edition of The Richard Mille Art Prize. The collaboration between Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here and The Richard Mille Art Prize represents a further extension of the role of the museum as a space of interaction and exchange for contemporary art through our ongoing interactions and links with regional contemporary artists,” said Dr Noujaim.

Nasser said: “I am so thankful to have won the 2021 Richard Mille Art Prize. When I think back to when my project started, before it even made it to be part of this exhibition, it all really feels like it has come full circle. I would like to thank Richard Mille and Louvre Abu Dhabi for giving me the opportunity to be part of this exhibition, I am so proud to have been able to show this work. “This experience has given me a lot more than art, it has given me the chance to build a community of peers I look up to and lifelong friends. I am very grateful for the support that this initiative has provided, and I am excited to see what the future holds for me and the other artists who will be given this opportunity.”

Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here is an annual exhibition and art prize which will serve as a platform to showcase contemporary artists from the region working in a variety of media. Each year the exhibition will see several artists selected through an open call for proposals, each exhibiting one artwork in the Forum, a space of interaction and exchange within Louvre Abu Dhabi, dedicated to contemporary art.