No. 2 Cologne, September 2012   
   
2012 Cologne Fine Art Prize goes to Tony Cragg    
   
British-born, Wuppertal-based Tony Cragg, now 63, is the winner of this year’s Cologne Fine Art Prize. He is the first sculptor to be awarded the Prize. Worth EUR 10,000, the Prize is awarded by Koelnmesse and the Bundesverband Deutscher Galerien und Kunsthändler e.V. (BVDG). The prize-giving ceremony will be held on 20 November 2012 at 3 pm in the frame of the AXA ART Professional Preview at the opening of Cologne Fine Art & Antiques. The Fair runs from 21 to 25 November 2012.   
   
‘Constant change’ and ‘thinking with materials’ are phrases that crop up again and again in Cragg’s discussions of his own work. Few other artists have obtained such a remarkable lightness of expression working in such weighty and technically demanding materials as bronze, steel, stone and wood. His works exhibit an extraordinary vitality – a vitality that derives from the dynamic and almost ethereal qualities of his objects’ sculptural line, their sensuously organic character and the impression of fluidity arising from his dissolution of the materiality of surfaces. Both in enclosed and in open spaces, they communicate powerfully elegant qualities that evoke remarkable experiences of visual enjoyment in the viewer.   
   
Cragg’s sculptural ideas engage him in a continual search for new technical solutions. The richness of his formal vocabulary and the technical virtuosity of his oeuvre – itself a melding of classical and innovative elements – stem from his deep intellectual interest in science and nature. Seldom have art and nature been so masterfully integrated than in the sculpture park he opened near Wuppertal in 2008. The park is designed to showcase both his own work and that of his artist friends.   
   
Cragg’s outstanding artistic oeuvre has brought him numerous international awards, among them the Turner Prize in 1988 and Japan’s Praemium Imperiale for Sculpture – considered to be the ‘Nobel Prize in Art’ in 2007. Twice he has been invited to exhibit at documenta in Kassel and four times at the Venice Biennale – just two of the high points in a distinguished artistic career studded with major shows at many of the world’s leading museums. In 2001 he was elected to the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, and made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2003. In 2009 he was appointed Rector of the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf – an academy where he had previously been a professor for many years.   
   
The Cologne Fine Art Prize is sponsored by Koelnmesse and the BVDG. In the course of their long-standing cooperation with the BVDG, Cologne’s two art fairs have launched and supported two highly prestigious art prizes – a unique achievement. The ART COLOGNE prize honours outstanding services in the promotion and encouragement of modern art. The Cologne Fine Art & Antiques prize honours outstanding artistic achievement. An exhibition is staged at the Fair in recognition of the prizewinner’s oeuvre.    
   
Cologne Fine Art & Antiques: Timeless Quality – Aesthetic Elegance    
The Fair’s exciting juxtaposition of styles and epochs – its outstanding mix of Old Masters and Modern Art, Applied Art, Design and Works on Paper showcased under one roof – sets it apart from all national and international events of its kind. The next edition of Cologne Fine Art & Antiques is scheduled for 21 to 25 November 2012. Last year’s Fair played host to around 100 gallerists and dealers.   
   
Previous Cologne Fine Art Prizewinners:    
Günther Uecker (2011); Andreas Schulze (2010); Georg Baselitz (2009); Gert and Uwe Tobias (2007); Dieter Krieg (2006); Thomas Schütte (2005); Jörg Sasse (2003); Sigmar Polke (2002); Astrid Klein (2001); Thomas Bayrle (2000); Thomas Huber (1999); Dieter Roth (1998); Felix Droese (1996)   
   
Photograph Credit (Tony Cragg):    
Copyright © Ingrid von Kruse (2008)   
   
Press:    
Images of Cologne Fine Art & Antiques and the Fair’s logo and key visual can be accessed in the Press section of the website (http://www.cofaa.com/). Select ‘Press’, ‘Image database’ and ‘Cologne Fine Art & Antiques’.