The Falkenrot Prize was initiated in 2005 and is being presented for the eleventh time this year.
The Falkenrot Prize winner in 2017 is Andreas Schmitten (*1980), who lives and works in Düsseldorf.

An artist is being honoured in Andreas Schmitten, who visualizes an enigmatic perception reduced to surface structures in an ingenious and previously unheard of way.  One facet of his œuvre is the aesthetic experience induced by the smooth, sometimes reflecting, always brightly-coloured surface of his sculptural works. This leads to a sense of unease, due to the fact that we have difficulty in locating Schmitten’s works within our own canon of images. The unoccupied functional category in a society oriented on optimization creates an undercurrent of uncertainty, so throwing the viewer back upon his own functionality within the system.

The presentation of surfaces as a programme permeates the entirety of Schmitten’s œuvre: display windows featuring an iridescent world of objects; metre-high, high-gloss sculptures, or fine drawings, which resume the attribution of quite clear functions to man and his physis. The drawings should be understood not only as disturbing but also as humorous. They give back a practical function to the people in Schmitten’s work, but also in a world where bodies are now traded as accessories. And so Schmitten is concerned in diverse ways with modern man and his place in a world that is becoming more and more oriented towards appearance.

Special thanks for the realisation of the exhibition are due to all the lenders, as well as Michael Schultz, Berlin, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin and SCHÖNEWALD, Düsseldorf.

With kind support from the Senate Office for Culture and Europe – Department of Culture.

A comprehensive catalogue will be appearing to mark the presentation of the Falkenrot Prize 2017 to Andreas Schmitten, including numerous illustrations, and texts by Ory Dessau and Ruba Katrib.