15/01/2002

The finalists for the $ 50,000 (€ 56,100) Hugo Boss award given every two years to a contemporary artist are Francis Alÿs (Belgium), Olafur Eliasson (Denmark), Hachiya Kazuhiko (Japan), Pierre Huyghe (France), Koo Jeong-a (Korea) and Anri Sala (Albania). Notably there are no painters with all finalists working with mixed media. "It reflects the tenor of what's happening today," stated Nancy Spector, curator of contemporary art at the Guggenheim (New York), who was part of the six-member jury to the “New York Times”. Other jurors for the prize, which has been awarded three times before, include “TRANS-arts.cultures.media” founder and editorial director Sandra Antelo-Suarez, Guggenheim deputy director Lisa Dennison, Istanbul Biennial curator Yuko Hasegawa, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation director Thomas Krens, and ARC-Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris director Suzanne Pagé. A publication showing the finalists' work will be available at the Guggenheim's shops in May. The winner will be chosen this winter and given an exhibition at the Guggenheim in early 2003. (James Goulder)