Catalan surrealist photographer Joan Fontcuberta has been named the winner of the 2013 Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography. The artist received a $156,000 prize during ceremony held in his native Barcelona on Mar. 7.
An exhibition, “Joan Fontcuberta—2013 Hasselblad Award Winner,” curated by Dragana Vujanovic and Louise Wolthers, will open at the Hasselblad Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Oct. 25, 2013. Coinciding with the show’s debut, the Foundation will hold a symposium with Fontcuberta, and a book of the artist’s work will be published by MACK.
A press release from the Foundation praised Fontcuberta’s selection, saying “His work is distinguished by original and playful conceptual approaches that particularly explore photographic conventions, means of representation and claims to truth. He challenges concepts of science and fiction in interdisciplinary projects that extend far beyond the gallery space. In addition to his photographic practice, Joan Fontcuberta’s capacities as a writer, teacher and curator have been greatly inspirational to the younger generation.”
The foundation was established in 1979, upon the death of Swedish photographer Victor Hasselblad, and has presented an annual photography award since 1980. This year’s four person award committee was headed by Ute Eskildsen, who until last year headed the photography department at Germany’s Museum of Folkwang, Essen. Fontcuberta joins recent winners Nan Goldin (2007), Graciela Iturbide (2008) Robert Adams (2009), Sophie Calle (2010), Walid Raad (2011) and Paul Graham (2012).
