Statement by the Shortlisted Nominees of the 2017 Preis der Nationalgalerie


Our statement is a means to highlight and recommend changes to three problematic aspects of the prize, which we find indicative of broader and growing trends in the art field and therefore deserving of a public ear.

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III.

We believe that all exhibitions, including the exhibitions of the shortlisted nominees, should include an artist fee. Furthermore, artist talks, panels, and public discussions should also include fees. Artists contribute greatly to the prestige of this prize, and their labor, like all forms of labor, needs to be compensated proportionately.

The fact that the Preis der Nationalgalerie does not have a monetary value, and that the exhibitions and public talks of its nominees do not include fees, means that artists are rewarded only with the promise of exposure. There is an unspoken assumption that the participants are likely to be remunerated by the market as a result of being nominated for or winning the prize. As artists, we know this is not always the case. The logic of artists working for exposure feeds directly into the normalization of the unregulated pay structures ubiquitous in the art field, as well as into the expansion of the power of the commercial sector over all aspects of the field.

he full statement by Sol Calero, Iman Issa, Jumana Manna, and Agnieszka Polska on → conversations.e-flux.com