Nationalgalerie Prize 2019
August 16, 2019 - February 16, 2020
Hamburger Bahnhof - National Gallery of the Present

In March 2019, Pauline Curnier Jardin (born 1980 in Marseille), Simon Fujiwara (born 1982 in London), Flaka Haliti (born 1982 in Pristina) and Katja Novitskova (born 1984 in Tallinn) were selected by an international jury for the Prize Nationalgalerie 2019 nominated. The prize is awarded every two years and is a museum honor for artists under 40 who live and work in Germany. The four nominees will be presented in a group exhibition from August 16, 2019 to February 16, 2020 at the Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Aktuell - Berlin. Here all four artists show spatial ensembles in which they combine existing and new works. The tonality and style of the four expansive work presentations are very different; What they have in common is an explicit focus on aspects of our contemporary society; on cultural phenomena, political events and technological developments.

Using a cross-border artistic approach that combines visual and narrative elements of theater and narrative cinema, Pauline Curnier Jardin a stage space for the shortlist exhibition; a walk-in installation in which film and sculptural work intertwine in their characteristic way. Her often humorous works are the result of a very personal examination of historical circumstances, our historical background, our religious and cultural traditions as well as common gender roles and connotations.

With his works, which include painting, video, sculpture, installations and performances, Simon Fujiwara The works he selected for the exhibition, some of which were newly created, arise from Fujiwara's interest in today's mass phenomena and their economic and socio-political aspects. The very different works illustrate how much these phenomena have an emotional component.

, Flaka Haliti refers to topics of current political importance; it addresses war and peace, migration, borders and their permeability. The artist often and explicitly sets her sights on Europe. Her works have a clear statement and at the same time a strong metaphorical and poetic quality. With two sculptural installations she refers to Kosovo's recent past. With large wall works, she continues her series of works “Is it you, Joe?”, which plays with identity and schematization.

As one of the pioneers of an artistic language that became known as “Post-Internet Art”, Katja Novitskova create a virtuoso, multi-part and multi-layered “environment” for the exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof that encompasses and captures the visitors the boundaries between the individual works are blurred. The works emerged from Novitskova's ongoing research into current research in biotechnology and revolve around the question of the future existence of the organic as a component of technological processes.

On September 12, 2019, the second jury Pauline Curnier Jardin the winner of the Nationalgalerie Prize 2019, with the reasoning:
After a lively discussion, the jury awarded the Nationalgalerie Prize 2019 to Pauline Curnier Jardin, not only with a view to her contribution for the shortlist exhibition here at Hamburger Bahnhof, but for her artistic practice as a whole.

The jury bases its decision on the spirit of the National Gallery Prize to promote the development of an artistic practice. The jury was particularly impressed by Pauline Curnier Jardin's challenging and engaging cinematic and installation language. Not unlike a circus in delirium, her work opens up an unsettling experience based on the confusion of our time.