Sculpture as spatial experience: Sculptor Eva Rothschild nominated for the Robert Jacobsen Prize of the Würth Foundation
Irish sculptor Eva Rothschild has been nominated for the 13th Robert Jacobsen Prize of the Würth Foundation. The prize is endowed with EUR 25,000. The jury's decision in favor of the 48-year-old artist was unanimous. "Eva Rothschild's works enter into a direct, dynamic dialogue with the viewer," says the jury of the Robert Jacobsen Prize. The graphic, linear forms she uses initially evoked connotations of the Minimal Art of the 1960s and 1970s, which she continued, however, with compositional clarity and austerity. "The sculptor's work succeeds in giving fresh impetus to the art of sculpturing."
Eva Rothschild is always interested in spatial experience. With her extensive, site-specific sculptures, she invites the viewer to question their visual experience, as the sculptor emphasized in an interview: "Ideally, the works captivate and irritate the eye so that at the moment of confusion, the viewer looks more closely and questions what the eye and brain process.” Eva Rothschild is going to represent Ireland at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019, curated by Ralph Rugoff.
In Rothschild's world of objects, elements such as circles, spheres, squares or lines meet the meaningful aura of the various materials she works with – metal, Plexiglas, wood, leather or paper. The works often appear robust and fragile at the same time. She explores inside spaces as well as outdoor areas. Rothschild never just places a monolithic sculpture in the room, but always lets her works react to the specific environment.
Rothschild was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1971 and now lives in London. From 1997 to 1999, she studied at the renowned Goldsmith's College in London. A series of exhibitions, including at Tate Britain in London in 2009 and the Public Art Fund in New York in 2011, have drawn international attention to her work.
The Robert Jacobsen Prize
Every two years, the Würth Foundation awards the Robert Jacobsen Prize to a contemporary artist. The prize is awarded in memory of the Danish sculptor Robert Jacobsen who died in 1993. Previous laureates of the Prize are Lun Tuchnowski (1993), Richard Deacon (1995), Magdalena Jetelová (1997), Gereon Lepper (1999/2000), Stephan Kern (2001/2002), Rui Chafes (2003/2004), Bernar Venet (2005/2006), Monika Sosnowska (2008/2009), Jeppe Hein (2011/2012), Michael Sailstorfer (2014/2015) and Yngve Holen (2016/2017), with Eva Rothschild now joining an impressive selection of sculptors that have been honored with the Würth Foundation’s Robert Jacobsen Prize.
Members of the jury of the 13th Robert Jacobsen Prize
The jury of the Robert Jacobsen Prize, chaired by C. Sylvia Weber, Director of the Würth Collection, is made up of Rui Chafes, sculptor, Lisbon; Yngve Holen, sculptor, Berlin; Dr. Gottfried Knapp, critic, Munich; Prof. Dr. Christiane Lange, Director of Staatsgalerie Stuttgart; Sean Rainbird, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Philip Rylands, former Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Venice, and Michael Sailstorfer, sculptor, Berlin.
About the Würth Foundation
In 1987, Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Reinhold Würth and Carmen Würth established the Würth Foundation. The Würth Foundation, based in Künzelsau, is a foundation of civil law having legal capacity and solely and directly promotes charitable purposes. The Würth Foundation promotes projects in the fields of art and culture, research and science as well as education and training, and does so primarily in the Hohenlohe region where the headquarters of the
Würth Group are located. Social projects for the integration of refugees and migrants with refugee status not yet clarified are also supported. The projects of the Würth Foundation are supported by the German Würth companies, in particular Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG.
