Lynette Yiadom-Boakye was selected by the international jury consisting of Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (Germany), Agnaldo Farias (Brasil), Massimiliano Gioni (United States), Carol Yinghua Lu (China), Hans Ulrich Obrist (United Kingdom), Eckhard Schneider (Ukraine), and Nancy Spector (United States).

“The jury has awarded the Main Prize to Lynette Yiadom-Boakye for her extraordinary paintings where darkness and light are articulated together, recognizing the quality of the paintings and the social concerns that emerge from them. Furthermore, the jury awards the prize for her complex practice, which extends far beyond painting. Indeed, she is also active in literature as a writer of short stories and is currently working on a novel. She creates one canvas per day and if not completed by the end of the day, the painting is discarded. Therefore, there is no nocturnal rethinking, no pentimenti possible in her activity. Her works are organized around groups of paintings that generally portray imaginary black characters in abstract landscapes. Her paintings do not emerge from a photographic imaginary but from the memory of figuration in the history of painting, including realism with social consciousness and expressionism. Her works thus do not focus on the unique artwork but provide a viewing experience based on a different temporality, and on the recognition of recurring motifs, figures and moods.”

Exhibition of the 21 shortlisted artists is on show at the PinchukArtCentre in Kiev until the 6th January 2013.