Cécile B. Evans. Amos’ World: Episode One – illy Present Future Prize 2016 Exhibition

Cécile B. Evans, winner of the illy Present Future Prize 2016 with What the Heart Wants (2016), acquired by the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT for the Castello di Rivoli, presents a re-configuration of the work Amos’ World: Episode One, 2017, in the Manica Lunga project room, from November 3, 2017 to January 7, 2018. The project is curated by Marianna Vecellio. Starting from the relationship between humans and new technologies, the artist reflects on the value of emotions in contemporary society by exploring new forms of human subjectivity. Amos’ World is a video installation, conceived like a TV show across three episodes. The first episode introduces Amos, an architect who is a combination of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the archetype of a pathetic white male. Amos is forced to face the tenants of the building he designed, who are not conforming to his expectations. A rift in relationships begins to emerge and challenges the individual-communal structure. This Belgian-American artist, who lives in London and Berlin, has already held numerous exhibitions including a solo show at the Tate Liverpool in 2016. She also took part in the ninth edition of the Berlin Biennale, in 2016.

Cécile B. Evans’s work was selected by the technical jury of the prize who came together as part of Artissima 2016 and was made up of Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (Director of Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli and GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin), Bart van der Heide (Chief Curator, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam), Verena Hein (Curator, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich), and Nicoletta Fiorucci (President Fiorucci Art Trust, London), with the following motivation: “Cécile B. Evans’s work offers a vision and a form of the future where the interface between the digital dimension and the bodily one is structured so as to explore the impact on the development of human subjectivity.”

Since 2012 the illy Present Future Prize has offered winners the exceptional opportunity of exhibiting at the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and of conducting research. This award represents the company’s desire to support the artist community and young talents as they grow professionally. Thanks to the contemporary outlook of illycaffè and an active partnership with the Castello di Rivoli, the illy Present Future Prize offers an important contribution to affirming emerging artists and confirming the innovative role played by Artissima. Winners of the previous editions who exhibited at the Castello di Rivoli were: Vanessa Safavi, Santo Tolone, and Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa (2012), Caroline Achaintre and Fatma Bucak (2013), Rachel Rose (2014), and Alina Chaiderov (2015).