![Johans Peñaloza, Sin Título [detail].](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-isabelcroxattogaleria/usr/library/images/main/news/124/johans-pe-aloza-sin-t-tulo-2023-acrylic-on-canvas-110-x-150-cm-detail-2-copy.jpeg)
![Johans Peñaloza, Sin Título [detail].](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-isabelcroxattogaleria/usr/library/images/main/news/124/johans-pe-aloza-sin-t-tulo-2023-acrylic-on-canvas-110-x-150-cm-detail-1-copy.jpeg)
Johans Peñaloza, Sin Título, Acrylic on canvas, 110 x 150 cm.
Our represented artist Johans Peñaloza was selected as a finalist for the XVI MAVI UC Young Art Award with his piece Sin Título [Untitled].
Johans's painting depicts the Advanced Experimental Superconducting Tokamak, a magnetically confined fusion power reactor in Hefei, China, that has reached temperatures of 120 million degrees Celsius. "This achievement should not leave any social group or individual indifferent, as in this decade we are witnessing unprecedented breakthroughs in human history," the artist says.
"I am delving into the possibility of posing the relationship between the image and science, narrowing the limit where the latter meets the arts, cooperating with each other. In this case, the intention is to relate the public to knowledge beyond their reach by forcing the medium to appear at the level where image search engines can recognise the referent used and to make the image be contemplated through the non-mediation of its content," Johans explains.
The MAVI UC Young Art Award, created by the Museum of Visual Arts (MAVI UC) of Santiago and presented by LarraínVial, aims to discover and encourage new artistic talents, becoming a platform that presents the state of young Chilean art. Since its first edition in 2013, the Prize has established itself as a space to showcase and promote the work of emerging artists in Chile, projecting their artworks into the artistic circuit.
The Prize offers an opportunity - through the exhibition of the finalist artworks of each edition - to build a bridge between the audience and the artists, reflecting the concerns and trends of new generations and favouring a critical dialogue around art.
The jury for the Award's 16th edition includes the Argentinean curator Teresa Riccardi, Director at the Sívori Museum of Buenos Aires; the Colombian artist, curator and researcher Nicolás Gómez Echeverri, former Executive Director at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Lima; and the Chilean artist Leonardo Portus.
The first place is awarded a cash prize and a solo exhibition at the Museum, while the selected artwork is inducted into the MAVI Collection. A special prize is given by the audience that visits the finalists' exhibition through popular vote, sponsored by Fundación Antenna. Voting is open and closes on 6 July. The exhibition featuring all finalist pieces will be on view at the Museum until 10 September.
Previous artists represented by Isabel Croxatto Galería that were finalists to the MAVI Young Art Award include Carolina Muñoz, who obtained the Second Prize in 2018 after a record-breaking 8 nominations, and Rolankay, a finalist in 2022.
Congratulations, Johans!
7 June 2023
