Turkish artist Nil Yalter and French artist Vera Molnár have been awarded the Prix Aware for outstanding merit 2018. The award, which is given by the non-profit organisation Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibition, honours women artists who have had careers spanning at least three decades. Yalter’s installation work Le Chevalier d’Éon (1978) was shown on the occasion of the Prix Aware and combines film, photography and painting depicting, on the one hand, the story of the Chevalier d’Eon (1728–1810), an ambiguous figure who worked as both a spy for King Louis XV and a maid of honour to Empress Elizabeth I of Russia, and on the other, the story of a friend of the artist, whom she documents with her Portapak camera as he transitions into a woman. Molnár is widely considered a pioneer of computer and algorithmic art. In Letters to my mother (1981-1990), Molnár used an ‘imaginary machine’ to reproduce her mother’s handwriting, weaving together her own personal history with algorithms to create chaotic seismograph-like drawings. In addition to receiving €10,000 (around £8,800) each, Yalter and Molnár will have their works on display at the French National Archives in Paris.
29 January 2018
