SOLO PRIZE 2022

Sergei Prokofiev. Recipient of the Solo Prize 2022. Photo: still from the video work FIREWORKS ON THE SWAMP (2020)

In collaboration with Signe Jochumsen, exhibition director of Politikens Forhal, this year's jury has chosen Russian Sergei Prokofiev as the winner of the Solo Prize 2022. The prize includes the opportunity to create a solo exhibition at Politikens Forhal in January 2023 and a grant of DKK 10,000. Prokofiev wins with the works FAN OF THE LAND (2021) and FIREWORKS ON THE SWAMP (2020)

"To be honest, at the end of October 2021 I opened my first solo exhibition abroad, in Uppsala, Sweden, in November 2021 I received an award in Russia, and now I am going to Denmark for such a wonderful occasion. The fact that I will receive the Solo Award is very important for me, just because I will be able to show some Russian contemporary art outside the Russian context and collect opinions about it in Denmark. Everything that has been happening to me lately I call nothing but a Series of Miracles."

- Sergei Prokofiev

ABOUT SERGEI PROKOFIEV
(translated from the artist's own description)

For me, art is a form of resistance. A kind of ultimate resistance that is self-perpetuating through fundamental disagreements that transcend any artist's desire to be different. Without having any activist inclinations, I often act in the field of politicized art, trying to create something that is my own, without authority, in a vacuum. I want art to emerge from tensions between my work and the spectator's perception, without letting go of him or her.

Website: www.prokofiev.net
Instagram: @serge.prokofiev

ABOUT FIREWORKS IN THE SWAMP (2020)
(translated from the artist's own description)

There were fireworks in the swamp, that's for sure.

The intensity of what happens is so high that the consciousness does not have time to deconstruct the image of this event. When the smoke clears we can start talking about the field of interpretation. But this is not so important, because it consists only of versions of reality, and their totality does not give us a complete picture. It is important to live directly in the experience, where the absolute reality can be revealed.

HD video. 06:40 min.

ABOUT FAN OF THE LAND (2021)
(translated from the artist's own description)

The modern protest movement has a certain feature - it is emphatically peaceful. Because of this, the authorities, who only understand the language of power, are dragging their feet. Tough guys don't go to demonstrations. Some people cling to them as the people to influence the ruling regime. But a fear also emerges - members of the fan culture also become associated with radicalism, nationalism and neo-Nazism. No one knows what will happen if they go outside, feel the power they have, and don't want to leave.

HD video. 03:13 min

REASONS FOR THE CHOICE OF SERGEI PROKOFIEV

"There is an enormous power in Sergei Prokofiev's works, which at once contain a resounding emptiness and an overwhelming noise. The serenity of the deep forest and the silence of the lakeside in the wild Russian countryside contrast with the turmoil lurking just below the surface. On behalf of Politikens Forhal, it gives me great pleasure to point to Sergei Prokofiev at this time, and we look forward to working with him and the Charlottenborg Foundation on a solo exhibition in Politikens Forhal in January 2023."
- Signe Jochumsen, on behalf of Politikens Forhal and this year's jury