Whitechapel Gallery director Iwona Blazwick has announced that French-born artist Laure Prouvost is the 2011 winner of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women, reports Artforum.com.
The biannual prize, co-organized by the Max Mara fashion house and Whitechapel Gallery, recognizes the achievement of a female artist living in Britain. Prouvost was chosen from a shortlist that also included Spartacus Chetwynd, Christina Mackie, Avis Newman and Emily Wardill.
A graduate of Central Saint Martins, London-based Provost works in film, installation and performance. As part of her award, she will participate in a six-month residency split between the BritishSchool in Rome and the Pistoletto Foundation in Biella, Italy. Her commissioned work will be shown in a solo exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery in 2013, as well as at the Maramotti Collection in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Prouvost’s work has been included in group shows at Tate Britain, the ICA, Serpentine, and BFI Galleries. Upon accepting the award, Prouvost said: “It will be very interesting for me to work in another cultural environment… it is a real endorsement of what I do and I am very glad that the judges are supporting my practice.”