This spring and summer, the Aesthetica Art Prize exhibition presents eight shortlisted artists contributing outstanding works to contemporary art and will continue to run until 22 June showcasing artistic talent from around the world in a ground-breaking group show.

Presented amidst the backdrop of York St Mary’s, it provides a dynamic stage on which the new and innovative artworks are presented, inspiring a new conversation between the historic and the contemporary. Not only are the works visually compelling, but they also chime with the more interactive displays or installation sets in many contemporary art spaces. Student Prize winner Harriet Lewars’s aural three dimensional sculpture Frustum Planum Cum Filia Lyrae invites audiences to play its strings using the bow offered out at the gallery.

Also featured in the exhibition is Ingrid Hu, a former designer at the Lubetkin-winning Heatherwick Studio, who’s three-dimensional design Longplayer hums and dongs mimicking the sound of the delicate bowls as if they were being played within its structure. This piece refers to the 66-foot-wide orchestral instrument built to perform Longplayer Live, on display at Trinity Buoy Wharf London. The steel structure was designed by Ingrid Hu, commissioned to display and store the bowls.

Julia Weißenberg presents her essay film There is no real way of knowing, which documents her journey of discovery to track down the world’s oldest tree in Iceland. Trees store information such as the climatic conditions during their lifetime, and scientists can date archaeological excavations by using historical wood. While searching for this miraculous life form, Wießenberg is confronted with stories and information from Icelanders and their country, alleged hard facts and mythical folklore.

The other shortlisted artists in the exhibition are: Deb Covell, Inés Molina Navea, Elke Finkenauer, and Amedeo Abello & Federico Morando.

Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition, 22 June at York St Mary’s, Castlegate, York, YO1 9RN. Open daily from 10am – 5pm, free admission. For more information visit www.aestheticamagazine.com.

The Aesthetica Art Prize is now open for entries. For more information and to submit visit www.aestheticamagazine.com/artprize.

Credits
1. Julia Weißenberg, There is no real way of knowing.

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