York Art Gallery

8 March – 14 July 2019

Hosted by Aesthetica Magazine, the Aesthetica Art Prize is an annual exhibition that invites audiences to explore, discover and engage with new ideas.

The 2019 edition, on display at York Art Gallery, covers a range of themes from technology, urbanisation and digitisation to population growth and ecological destruction and climate change.

There have been considerable shifts in civilisation in the Information Age – resulting in a change in the way we communicate, engage with and interact with each other.

The shortlisted works investigate this concept through a wide range of styles and techniques.

Highlights from the show include:

  • Teppei Yamada’s installation Apart and/or Together comprises 10 different heartbeats, which are reminders of the real human lives rendered invisible in discussions around citizenship and migration.
  • Giulio Di Sturco’s photographic series Aerotropolis, The Way We Will Live Next considers how landscapes centred around airports shape urban development in the 21st century as much as highways did in the 20th century, railroads in the 19th century and seaports in the 18th century.
  • Christiane Zschlommer’s Beyond Orwell Series focuses on familial experiences under totalitarianism in East Germany, photographing objects using found secret government statistics and discussing surveillance culture.
  • Turner-Prize nominees Jane & Louise Wilson depict the relationship between the Houses of Parliament, Trinity House in Newcastle, and the abandoned coastal fortifications on Governors Island, Manhattan with Suspended Island. The artists’ film discusses the perception of an island at this time, during Brexit negotiations.
  • Noriyuki Suzuki’s installation Oh My ( ) is one of the pieces expanding upon changing modes of communication. The work monitors the Twitter feed in real time, sounding out the phrase “oh my (god)” in one of 48 languages every time the word “god” is tweeted. The artwork considers the complexities and intangibility of religion in the digitised world.

Entry to The Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition 2019 is included in gallery admission.

Lunchtime Talks

A series of Lunchtime Talks are on offer throughout the exhibition’s run, developing ideas from the artworks and expanding upon wider conversations within the industry. Hear directly from leading artists, curators and academics.

To find out more about these Lunchtime Talks, please visit our events calendar.

Aesthetica Art Prize

Entries are now open for this year’s Aesthetica Art Prize.

Follow the prize Twitter @AestheticaMag and use the hashtag #AAP2019.