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Art

Andriu Deplazes wins Helvetia Art Prize 2017

Young Swiss artist Andriu Deplazes commutes between his home town Zurich and Brussels, where he has had a studio for two years. Now he has wowed the expert jury with his work and won the Helvetia Art Prize for 2017.

12 June 2017, text: Margrith Mermet, photos: Gabriel Huber, Focus Format, video: Gabriel Huber, Focus Format

Young artist Andriu Deplazes sits in a café in Brussels, gazing contemplatively out of the window.
Young Swiss artist Andriu Deplazes has won the Helvetia Art Prize for 2017. He is a graduate of the BA course in the fine arts at Zurich University of the Arts.
Andriu Deplazes strolls through the streets of Brussels, his hands in his jacket pockets.
Andriu Deplazes has lived and worked in Brussels for around two years. “I find peace here and I can concentrate on my work.”
On the roof terrace: Andriu Deplazes kneels beside countless pots, in which he has planted lettuce, vegetables and herbs.
Urban gardening: The studio building, where Deplazes lives with other artists, also has a large roof terrace, where he has planted a small vegetable and herb garden.
Andriu Deplazes carries a picture to a brick wall in his studio, where several pictures have already been hung. He has painted the pictures using oils in brilliant colours.
Andriu Deplazes paints with oils on home-made canvases...
Close-up of a small painting hanging on the brick wall.
...which he hangs on a large brick wall in his studio to paint on them.
Andriu Deplazes kneels on the floor of his studio, sorting and viewing sketches which he has drawn in ink on white sheets of paper.
In his studio, the young painter views and sorts sketches which he has drawn in ink on his travels.
Sketches which he has drawn in ink on white sheets of paper.
“The countless sketches are the basis for the subjects in my pictures.”
Young artist Andriu Deplazes sits in a café in Brussels, gazing contemplatively out of the window.
Young Swiss artist Andriu Deplazes has won the Helvetia Art Prize for 2017. He is a graduate of the BA course in the fine arts at Zurich University of the Arts.
Andriu Deplazes strolls through the streets of Brussels, his hands in his jacket pockets.
Andriu Deplazes has lived and worked in Brussels for around two years. “I find peace here and I can concentrate on my work.”
On the roof terrace: Andriu Deplazes kneels beside countless pots, in which he has planted lettuce, vegetables and herbs.
Urban gardening: The studio building, where Deplazes lives with other artists, also has a large roof terrace, where he has planted a small vegetable and herb garden.
Andriu Deplazes carries a picture to a brick wall in his studio, where several pictures have already been hung. He has painted the pictures using oils in brilliant colours.
Andriu Deplazes paints with oils on home-made canvases...
Close-up of a small painting hanging on the brick wall.
...which he hangs on a large brick wall in his studio to paint on them.
Andriu Deplazes kneels on the floor of his studio, sorting and viewing sketches which he has drawn in ink on white sheets of paper.
In his studio, the young painter views and sorts sketches which he has drawn in ink on his travels.
Sketches which he has drawn in ink on white sheets of paper.
“The countless sketches are the basis for the subjects in my pictures.”

He paints plants, people and animals with brilliant oil paints on home-made canvases The faces of the bald-headed people seem bloodless, their bodies’ skin colour is pale. All the more striking are the colours of their surroundings, representing heavenly or apocalyptic landscapes. “Today we have to compete with the strong colours on mobile phones and computers, which come at us like a bolt of lightning”, explains Andriu Deplazes. The Young Swiss artist has won the Helvetia Art Prize for 2017.

Far from his home and what is familiar to him, he finds peace in his studio in Brussels and can concentrate on his work. His pictures are based on sketches that he makes on his forays through the city. “I draw everything that I come across.” The Helvetia Art Prize is comprised of a sum of money and the opportunity of a solo exhibition at the LISTE Art Fair in Basel, where Andriu Deplazes can present himself and his impressive works to the broad, international art audience.

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About the Helvetia Art Prize

The Helvetia Art Prize is a sponsorship prize for graduates of the Swiss universities of applied sciences in the field of “Visual and Media Art”. Every year it is awarded to a talented young artist who is at the beginning of his or her career. The prize underlines the lasting commitment of Helvetia and the former Nationale Suisse to the Swiss creative art scene. The Art Prize is linked to a monetary award of CHF 15,000 and an exhibition at the international art exhibition LISTE, Art Fair Basel, which takes place alongside ART Basel each year (13 -18 June 2017).

www.helvetia.ch/art