Based in Marseille, she will benefit from a six-month residency in Italy. She will have the opportunity to create a new project which will be presented in a solo exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in 2024. The exhibition will then be presented at the Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
From the left to the right: Maria Sukkar (jury member, collector), Bhajan Hunjan, Claudette Johnson (jury member, artist), Onyeka Igwe, Zinzi Minott, Gilane Tawadros (Director, Whitechapel Gallery), Dr. Luigi Maramotti (vice President, Max Mara), Rebecca Bellantoni, Dominique White, Bina von Stauffenberg (Chair of the jury), Rozsa Farkas (jury member, gallerist), Derica Shields (jury member, art critic), Sara Piccinini (Director, Collezione Maramotti)
Represented by the Spazio Veda Gallery (in Florence, Italy), White expresses herself through sculptures and installations. As put on her website, her work "weaves together the theories of Black Subjectivity, Afro-pessimism and Hydrarchy (from below) with the nautical myths of Black Diaspora".
White was selected from a pool of finalists including Rebecca Bellantoni, Bhajan Hunjan, Onyeka Igwe, and Zinzi Minott.
Director of the Whitechapel Gallery and member of the jury panel, Gilane Tawadros underlines the relevance of White's work. "At a time when the need for refuge and safe space is so acute and the passage of individuals and communities by sea poses such risks to lives and exposes so much injustice, the interrogation and exploration of both the historical and contemporary systems that control movement and identity seems especially urgent."
Since its creation in 2005, the Max Mara Art Prize has rewarded: Margaret Salmon (2005 – 07), Hannah Rickards (2007 – 09), Andrea Büttner (2009 – 11), Laure Prouvost (2011 – 13), Corin Sworn (2013 – 15), Emma Hart (2015 – 17), and Helen Cammock (2017 – 19).
Cover image: Dominique White, May you break free and outlive your enemy (2021), Cast iron, forged iron, sisal, kaolin clay, nul sails, sisal - Photo: Flavio Pescatori | Courtesy of VEDA Firenze and the artist.
