Mumbai–based artist Prajakta Potnis was named the second recipient of the Loewe Foundation / Studio Voltaire Award international artist residency.
Along with a year-long studio space at London’s Studio Voltaire, the prize comes with a £25,000 ($32,522) stipend for accommodations and living costs, a production and travel budget, and a professional development program.
The award was started in 2021 with the intention of highlighting “creative thinking and individuality within contemporary art practice” while also working “to increase and strengthen equitable representation and access, and amplify artistic voices across class, race, gender, sexuality and disability.”
Hong Kong-based artist and independent publisher Beatrix Pang was the inaugural recipient.
Key figures in the Indian art scene were invited to nominate twelve artists to apply for the award. Applications were then selected by art historian and curator Devika Singh, Studio Voltaire director Joe Scotland, and curator Dot Zhihan Jia.
Potnis explores the public and private influences of global politics and economics between painting, installation, and time-based media. Her work questions the boundaries of familial, societal, governmental, temporal systems in which we are ingrained.
Prajakta Potnis: Capsule, 2012, digital print on cotton rag paper.
Courtesy the artist
“It will be an invaluable opportunity to provide new contexts for comparative readings of some key issues I’ve been exploring, as well as to research and develop a new body of work that responds to these uncertain and trying times”, Pontis said in a statement. “The award will offer me a place for reflection and interaction within a thriving community of artists, activists, curators and audiences. I am excited for the invaluable exchange of ideas and experiences.”
Marking her first project in the United Kingdom, Pontis begins her residency in October.
Additionally, two years of support is given to seven UK-based artists via rent-free studio spaces, professional development opportunities, and bursaries. The recipients for the 2023–25 award are Babajide Brian, Maz Murray, Emily Pope, Shamica Ruddock, Meera Shakti Osborne, Nick Smith and Ossie Williams.
