Rebeca Romero is the winning artist of the fifth edition of the OGR Award, a prize sponsored by Artissima and Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, in dialogue with the special project METAmorphosis, the second chapter of Beyond Production
Rebeca Romero, of Copperfield Gallery in London, with the project Semilla SAGRADA, is the winner of the fifth edition of the OGR Award sponsored by Artissima and Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, in synergy with OGR Torino. The OGR Award was created in recognition of the artist who best renders the complex and soficient relationship between art, technology and innovation, with particular emphasis on digital developments.
The prize was awarded by an international jury composed of Amira Gad, curator and writer, Rotterdam, Lars Henrik Gass, director of the Festival Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Samuele Piazza, senior curator OGR Torino, and Domenico Quaranta, art critic, curator and lecturer specializing in media art, Milan.
This motivation reads:
“The jury unanimously awards Rebeca Romero, represented by Copperfield Gallery, London, with her project Semilla SAGRADA. As evident from her artistic practice in which she adopts an archaeological approach, the project thoroughly investigates ancient histories projected into a future civilization, evoking complex relationships between real and virtual, digital and material, cultural heritage and symbolism. The jury appreciated the analog perspective in the use of materials such as textiles in their interaction with the metaverse, but also the possible links between shamanism and the digital world. Moreover, with this award, the jury supports a project that affemphasizes the metaverse as a shared place that can be constructed in collective and participatory ways, activating alternative histories and imaginaries of non-Western origin.”
OGR Award in dialogue with METAmorphosis
During this edition, the OGR Award dialogued with the METAmorphosis project, the second episode of the Beyond Production platform that sees Artissima and Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT engage an annual reflection on the most innovative trends in contemporary art. The 2022 edition focused on the complex phenomenon of the Metaverse, divided into four phases.
The first phase, held during Artissima 2022, led to the selection of four artists: Marcos Lutyens of Alberta Pane gallery, Paris and Venice; Eva & Franco Mattes of Apalazzogallery, Brescia; Rebeca Romero of Copperfield gallery, London; and R M of Martina Simeti gallery, Milan.
The second phase involved the artists and their galleries in an educational series of meetings on the metaverse and its potential and limitations in the artistic sphere, with the guidance of project partners Artshell, LCA Studio Legale and Revibe – Metaverse Experience Factory – professionals highly specialized in digital technologies, legal issues related to NFTs and 3D computer grafication in the metaverse sphere, respectively.
The third phase saw the artists work on the development of a design idea for a fixed work and its digital alter ego in the Metaverse with the support of Ilaria Bonacossa, director of the National Museum of Digital Art in Milan, and thanks to a production grant provided by Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT. The project ideas are visible on a dedicated digital platform curated by Artshell.
The fourth phase involves the announcement of the winner of the OGR Award, which the jury identified as Rebeca Romero. The work Semilla SAGRADA will be effectively developed in the Metaverse and will be presented to the public on May 17, 2023, in a dedicated event at OGR Torino. The work will then be acquired by the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, becoming part of its Collection and remaining on loan to OGR Torino in its two versions, fixed and digital.
OGR Award winners
In the four previous editions, the OGR Award has been given in 2017 to Rokni Haerizadeh, presented by Isabelle van den Eynde gallery in Dubai; in 2018 to Tomás Saraceno, presented by Pinksummer gallery in Genoa; in 2019 to Yuri Ancarani, presented by Isabella Bortolozzi gallery in Berlin; and in 2022 to Damon Zucconi, presented by VEDA gallery in Florence.
Bio Rebeca Romero
Rebeca Romero is an interdisciplinary artist born in Peru and based in London. In 2020 she received a master’s degree in art from Goldsmiths University of London. Her works have been shown around the world in major exhibitions such as Oracles and Algorithms, Copperfield London, UK (2022), and so on, Das Weisse Haus, Austria (2022), Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Firstsite Colchester & South London Gallery, UK (2021), The Obsolete in Reverse, Springseason Gallery, UK (2020), and London Grads Now, Saatchi Gallery, UK (2020). His sound performances and videos have been hosted on platforms such as New Writing with New Contemporaries, South London Gallery, UK (2022) and Future Artefacts, RTM.FM (2021).
