Jaanika Peerna at Midtown Manhattan.    Photo by Markley Boyer

Jaanika Peerna at the Kentler International Drawing Space on  March 7, 2015.   Photo by Thomas Wilson

Estonian-American artist Jaanika Peerna has been awarded the FID Drawing Prize 2016.

FID (thefid.org) was founded in Paris in 2007, dedicated to the promotion of contemporary drawing. Originally an art fair focusing on drawing, the organization now focuses on a publishing program and the awarding of the FID Prize. From hundreds of applicants from 32 countries this year, the pool was narrowed to 49 nominees, then 10 finalists, and one grand prize winner, Jaanika Peerna.

Brett Littman, executive director of the Drawing Center in New York and chairman of the jury, announced that “Jaanika Peerna is clearly the winner. It is always interesting to move drawings into performance and three-dimensional space. Jaanika’s work allows us to see line as a physical object as well as a trace of her own body and the passage of time.”

Other members of the jury include Rebecca Kerlin of Gallery Joe, Andreea Ciobica, finalist of FID Prize 2012, Serghei Litvin, founder of FID, Maurits van de Laar of Gallery Maurits van de Laar in Hague, and honorary chair, Philippe de Montebello, Director Emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“It is an honor to receive this award,” says Peerna, “especially because I see all my work, whether installation, video, or performance, as fundamentally based in drawing. I am honored to be in the company of fellow artists who are pushing the medium of drawing into new territories as an independent art form.”

Each of the Grand Prize Finalists will be awarded a written analysis of her/his work: a text signed by Brett Littman, Executive Director of the Drawing Center, NY and President of the 2016 FID Prize Jury; a text which s/he will have the right to use in her/his professional communication, for the entire duration of her/his professional life.

thefid.org