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.