OFF-THE-WALL AWARD

CURATED BY ERIK KESSELS
Veronica Barbato wins a portfolio publication in Gente di Fotografia
Matteo Girola awarded an artist residency at Forci Art Foundation

Now in its second edition, the OFF-THE-WALL Award, conceived by artist, curator, and publisher Erik Kessels, celebrates projects that push the boundaries of photographic language in unconventional and innovative ways.

The exhibition features works by: Carl Ander (Sweden), Veronica Barbato (Italy), Eleonora Calvelli (Italy), Nicoletta Deva Tortone (Italy), Matteo Girola (Italy), Augustin Lignier (France), Sofia Masini (Italy), Sarah Noorhimli (Singapore), Karl Schulze (Germany), Kia Sciarrone (Austria), Miyu Takaki (Japan), Daphne van de Velde (Netherlands), and Kim Winder (Netherlands).
The exhibition lighting is provided by Nemo Lighting.

Gente di Fotografia awarded Veronica Barbato for her project “Tua sorella”, recognizing her ability to transform pain and memory into a revolutionary visual and sensory language. Her work merges images, sound, and text into an immersive experience that embraces rebellion, social unrest, and rebirth.

Forci Art Foundation selected Matteo Girola for the subtlety of his research, the refinement of his printing and exhibition methods, and especially for the sense of humor embedded in his work.

Erik Kessels is a prominent figure in the international photography scene, working as an artist, curator, publisher, and expert in visual communication, with a deep interest in art and photography.

Through this award, Kessels aims to engage contemporary artists of all ages who use photography as an artistic language.

CONCEPT

“Photography as a medium and as art is in a phase of transformation, with infinite access and possibilities. Like a fluid substance, it interacts with other art forms—performance, sculpture, installation, and projection—taking on endless shapes. By becoming a three-dimensional material object, the old ways of photographing and displaying photographs on walls are cast aside, making way for new linguistic experiments. Freed from the frames that bind them to walls, photographs now inhabit a new space beyond the wall. The OFF-THE-WALL Award will focus on the unconventional, on stories, non-traditional executions, and new modes of photographic expression.” — Erik Kessels

ADDITIONAL AWARDS

MIA Photo Fair is also pleased to announce that the winning Artists selected for the Exhibition will have the opportunity to be selected for the two additional Awards organized by the following Partners of the Award:

  1. Publication of the portfolio in the magazine Gente di Fotografia, which will be published in conjunction with the fourteenth edition of MIA Photo The artist will be chosen by Franco Carlisi, director of the magazine, among the artists selected by Erik Kessels.
  2. Participation in a residency period at the Forci Art Foundation in Lucca. The winning artist will be selected by curators Melanie van Ogtrop and Nina van Ogtrop. The duration of the stay will be arranged directly with the Organizers.
PHOTO: ISABELLA DE MADDALENA
ERIK KESSELS

Erik Kessels is a Dutch artist, curator and communication designer, with great interest in art and photography. Erik Kessels is since 1996 Creative Partner of communications agency Kessels Kramer.
As an artist and curator Kessels has published over 100 books of his ‘re-appropriated’ imagesand has written the international bestseller Failed It! andComplete Amateur.
He has taught at several Art Academies (Amsterdam, Milan, Toronto, Lausanne, Düsseldorf).Kessels made and curated exhibitions such as Loving Your Pictures, Mother Nature, 24HRS in Photos, Album Beauty and Unfinished Father. Currently he’s working on a long-term European art project called Europe Archive.
In 2010 Kessels was awarded with the Amsterdam Prize of the Arts, in 2016 nominated for the  Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. Until 2022 his mid-career retrospective is shown in Turin, Düsseldorf and Budapestand he exhibited recently in the SFMOMA. He was called “a visual sorcerer” by Time Magazine and a “Modern Anthropologist” by Vogue (Italia).