Chora Council of the Metabolic Studio Announces the Winner of the Chora Prize

PANTELLERIA, Italy -

- First Recipient, Artist Felicity Powell, to Receive Award On October 2, 2009 at Metabolic Studio

The Chora Council, which supports the intangibles that foster creativity, is proud to announce the winner of the first Chora Prize. Artist Felicity Powell will receive US$50,000 to acknowledge her fully realized project of merit and originality, an exhibition entitled Medals of Dishonour, currently at the British Museum in London through September 27, 2009. Felicity Powell is the conceptual progenitor of the Medals of Dishonour exhibition, as well as one of the participating artists. This exhibition brings new vitality and vision to an established institution that is not normally associated with contemporary art practice.

The artwork of Felicity Powell, a sculptor based in London, has been seen internationally; she has had solo exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum, most recently, at Domobaal Gallery in London. She has received numerous awards and honors for her work and was elected a member of the British Arts Medal Society in 2002.

Medals of Dishonour reframes medals in the permanent collection of the British Museum through presenting newly commissioned medals commemorating moments of particular cultural dishonor by thirteen internationally recognized contemporary artists. The exhibition elegantly displays the historical and the contemporary medals together, giving us a long view through history that is both intelligent and wry.

The exhibition, with its accompanying catalogue sponsored by Chora, has been six years in the making. In 2003, Ms. Powell brought the idea forward, at a time when the attack on the World Trade Center Towers was still sending shock waves through the Western world, war was waging in the Gulf, and a recognition of the gravity of climate change was growing around the globe. The exhibition has been co-curated by Phillip Attwood, at the British Museum.

As Andrew Graham-Dixon recently wrote in the Daily Telegraph, “Collectively, this is one of the most impressive recent bodies of work created by any artist working today. Single handedly, Powell has revived an entire Renaissance tradition - a rich and intricate tradition of subtle workmanship and symbolism… bringing a dead language suddenly and startlingly back to life. It is a remarkable achievement.”

Background:

Chora is part of the Metabolic Studio, which also includes Farmlab, and is directed by artist Lauren Bon. The Metabolic Studio is a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation, Los Angeles, California. The term “chora” is ancient Greek for “vessel” and is used by Plato to refer to that which precedes realization being more real than the thing itself. The Chora Council is a society of artists, thinkers, scientists, musicians, dancers, curators, and collectors who meet annually on the small remote island of Pantelleria in the center of the ancient world.

Source: Annenberg Foundation

Camille Lowry, +1-310-209-4568, clowry at annenbergfoundation.org, or Liza deVilla, +1-310-209-4571, lameen at annenbergfoundation.org, both of Annenberg Foundation