The Art Critics Association AICA HELLAS (Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art – Hellenic Section) has decided to institute a monetary Award and Commendations to be presented to Greek artists on the basis of their significant contribution to the artistic production of the two previous years in solo or retrospective exhibition in Greece or abroad.

Starting from 2007, the award will be given every two years.

The awarding ceremony of the Award of the Art Critics Association AICA HELLAS will be held at the Benaki Museum (Pireos Street Building) on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 at 8.00pm.

The monetary prize of €7,000 that comes with the 2007 AICA HELLAS Award is sponsored by the J F Costopoulos Foundation.

The motive behind this initiative was the general demand to encourage the critical appreciation of the current artistic production and open up an arena of live exchange and dialogue between the artists and the active members of the purely intellectual field of art. The ultimate aim of the Award is to promote the quality image of the contemporary art scene of Greece to a broader local and international audience.

In establishing the AICA HELLAS Award in 2007, the Art Critics Association grants an honorary award to Jannis Kounellis for his active and crucial contribution to the contemporary intellectual life and the art scene in Greece and internationally, and in recognition of the special importance of his work as presented in his solo exhibition at the Attis Theatre in 2005, which showcased art as a critical life attitude towards the contemporary culture.

The Award and the Commendations of AICA HELLAS are structured as follows:

• AICA HELLAS Award to an artist of any generation who has presented a consistent body of work in the last two years which has made a special contribution to the advanced visual quests in contemporary art
• Commendations to artists of any generation, whose exhibitions of the last two years have reflected their reflective approach and their individual expression through the use of contemporary visual languages
• Commendation to a young artist for his/her handling of the visual language and his/her personal introspection

The nominations of the candidates for the Award are submitted by the members of AICA HELLAS.

The names of the awarded artists will be announced during the event at the Amphitheatre of the Benaki Museum on May 2, 2007.

The judging panel consists of the members of the Executive Board.

Judging Panel for the 2007 Award – The Executive Board for 2006-2009
Efi Strousa (Chair), Maria Marangou (Secretary Gen.), Miltos Frangopoulos (Treasurer), Emmanuel Mavrommatis (Member), Stavros Tsingoglou (Member)