FEAGA Award

INFORMATION The European Gallery Award was created by the Federation of European Art Galeries Associations (FEAGA) to highlight the importance of galleries and to honor galleries that are an example in their efforts to support artists and make their work visible. Sofie Van de Velde, President of the Award Committee, and FEAGA are proud to honour in great respect for creating and directing an exemplary gallery of high standing with a Lifetime Achievement Award: Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany Chris Dercon, art historian, curator, museum director gave a laudatio to Rüdiger Schöttle. The Ernst Hilger Award for Innovation and Creativity goes to: Bombon Projects, Barcelona, Spain The introduction was be held by Alex Nogueras, gallery owner Nogueras Blanchard, Barcelona, Spain. Rüdiger Schöttle The founding of Rüdiger Schöttle Gallery in Munich in 1968 marked the beginning of a forum of contemporary art that over the years has presented a great number of artists with their first solo exhibitions in Germany, or indeed their first solo exhibitions at all. The list includes such artists as Jenny Holzer, Günther Förg, Dan Graham, Jeff Wall, Rodney Graham, James Coleman, Karin Kneffel, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Katharina Fritsch, Thomas Ruff and Anri Sala. During the 1970s one of the focal points of the gallery's activities was the presentation of Concept Art with artists like Douglas Huebler, Daniel Buren, Ian Wilson, Lawrence Weiner and On Kawara. Conceptual content, the questioning of the correlation between art and reality and the reflection upon the context of art are to this day the common, cross-generation and cross-media link between the artists represented by Rüdiger Schöttle Gallery. The compositions of Martin Creed or Goshka Macuga follow this tradition. In the 1980s and 1990s, the owner, curator and essayist Rüdiger Schöttle pursued a program that opened up the partial return of the narrative and the re-evaluation of images. Since the 1980s the Düsseldorf School of Photography has been one of the emphases of the gallery program. Artists like Thomas Ruff, Candida Höfer and Thomas Struth are regularly exhibited and were complemented by the young Chinese artist Chen Wei. Besides cultivating a program of longstanding artists, Rüdiger Schöttle Gallery has a decisive interest in exploring new approaches in the contemporary art scene and regularly presents works of young emerging artists such as Toulu Hassani, Thu-Van Tran or Elif Saydam. Bombon Projects Bombon Projects is a contemporary art gallery founded in 2017 in Barcelona. Directed by Joana Roda and Bernat Daviu, it has established itself as one of the most dynamic young galleries in Spain, with a strong presence at international art fairs and an expanding program that now also includes a space in Madrid. The gallery focuses on emerging and mid-career artists whose practices engage with contemporary social, political, emotional, and material concerns. Its program is known for balancing experimental artistic practices with close, long-term collaborations with artists, creating what the gallery describes as an "ecosystem" based on trust and dialogue. Bombon represents a generation of internationally active artists, including Eva Fàbregas, Lara Fluxà, Rosa Tharrats, and Joana Escoval. The gallery has gained recognition for presenting ambitious exhibitions that often explore themes of ecology, corporeality, perception, and alternative forms of coexistence. Bombon Projects stands for a younger institutional model, closely associated with experimental, research-driven contemporary practices and the strengthening of the Barcelona art scene within an international context. For more information about the history of the FEAGA Awards and its previous winners, please contact FEAGA info@europeangalleries.org.