Arts platform Foundwork has announced Tracey Snelling as the recipient of its 2020 Foundwork Artist Prize. The Berlin-based artist was awarded an unrestricted 10-thousand-dollar grant and studio visits with each member of the prize jury, including Rachel Adams, Anat Ebgi, Natasha Ginwala, Kalup Linzy, Humberto Moro,and Michael Ruiz.
Courtesy of Tracey Snelling.
Chosen out of consideration for her exceptional studio practice, Snelling works across mediums like sculpture, installation, performance, sound, and video. Riding the line between storytelling and observation, the artist constructs detailed environments that evoke ideas of time and setting, which activate her audience’s perception and allow their own experiences to come into play during viewing.
Snelling’s recent works include smaller-scale creations like the Rooms (2019) and Lost Year Motel (2020)—a lifelike model of an inn, reminiscent of somewhere one might stop during a cross-country road trip. The artist also works in large-scale, making environments and spaces for performance, like her 2019 installation Clusterfuck 9 and the cluttered interior setting for Bedroom, Living Room performances, which was realized in 2018. Snelling is the second recipient of the prize, following its inaugural honoree, the Chicago-based artist Edra Soto. This year’s prize also recognizes three artists selected for a shortlist, including Joiri Minaya, Andrea Joyce Heimer, and Melanie McLain.
Tracey Snelling, “Bedroom, Living Room,” 2019, life-size installation with video and performances, 90 x 89 x 87 inches; courtesy of the artist.
Tracey Snelling, “Kotti,” 2018, wood, paint, images, lcd screens, electroluminescent wire, media players, speakers, lights, transformers, 28 x 48 x 35 inches; courtesy of the artist.
