Anna Park Named Winner of AXA Art Prize

$10,000 Prize for an American art student

Juried by artists Sanford Biggers, Will Cotton, John Currin and Tschabalala Self

Winner chosen from over 500 entries

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Nov 22, 2019, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, 22 November 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The first prize winner of the AXA Art Prize was announced on Thursday, November 21 at a reception at the New York Academy of Art. Anna Park, an MFA student from the New York Academy of Art, won $10,000 in a competition juried by art stars Sanford Biggers, Will Cotton, John Currin and Tschabalala Self along with Jennifer Schipf, AXA XL's Global Practice Leader for Art. Ms. Park was unanimously chosen by the five jurors as the winner of the nation's first and most prestigious student art competition devoted to figurative art.

Park was born in South Korea and raised in Utah, and her work has previously been featured in New York Magazine, Juxtapoz Magazine, Hi-Fructose and The Wall Street Journal. In the artist's words, her winning graphite and charcoal drawing "Parent Teacher Conference" focuses on "capturing a moment of getting rid of our inhibitions and letting our natural tendencies take over."

The second prize winner was Victor Manuel Salinas of the Fashion Institute of Technology for his painting "La Familia Rodriguez." Salinas will receive a prize of $5,000.

Jennifer Schipf, who leads global commercial insurer AXA XL's Global Practice for Art said, "The reception that this competition has received this year from artists and art institutions across the U.S. has been remarkable. We are so grateful to all the jurors and partners who have made this traveling exhibition possible and look forward to its continued growth in the coming years."

Over 500 undergraduate and graduate fine art students from 130 schools from across the country applied and 40 were selected as finalists by curators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the New Museum. The shortlisted artists, 31 young women and 9 young men, are enrolled at 30 different schools and hail from 19 states across the U.S.

The exhibition of shortlisted works traveled to San Francisco and Chicago during the fall and finished its tour at the New York Academy of Art this November, accompanied by an illustrated catalogue featuring an essay by David Ebony. The Prize boasts an Advisory Board of 34 major art schools across the U.S., including Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Columbia University School of Arts, California College of the Arts, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Pratt Institute and Bard College.

For more information about the Prize, Advisory Board and Jurors, and to view the shortlisted artworks, go to www.axaartprize.com.

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ABOUT AXA XL[1]
AXA XL¹, the property & casualty and specialty risk division of AXA, provides insurance and risk management products and services for mid-sized companies through to large multinationals, and reinsurance solutions to insurance companies globally. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, visit www.axaxl.com.

ABOUT AXA XL¹ INSURANCE
AXA XL¹ Insurance offers property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty insurance solutions to mid-sized companies through to large multinationals globally. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, visit www.axaxl.com.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF ART
Founded in 1982 by artists, scholars and patrons of the arts, including Andy Warhol, the New York Academy of Art is a not-for-profit educational and cultural institution which combines intensive technical training in drawing, painting and sculpture with active critical discourse. Academy students are taught traditional methods and techniques and encouraged to use these skills to make vital contemporary art. Through major exhibitions, a lively speaker series, and an ambitious educational program, the Academy serves as a creative and intellectual center for all artists dedicated to highly skilled, conceptually aware figurative and representational art.

¹AXA XL is a division of AXA Group providing products and services through four business groups: AXA XL Insurance, AXA XL Reinsurance, AXA XL Art & Lifestyle and AXA XL Risk Consulting.

SOURCE AXA XL