Ouborgprijs 2019

Jeroen Eisinga

Award ceremony Ouborg Award 2019
By: Saskia Bruines, alderman for Education, Economic Affairs and International Affairs
Friday 22 November 2019, 18:00 hrs
(doors open 17:30 hrs) - upon invitation only
Location: Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Stadhouderslaan 41, The Hague

"Extremely precise, varied and penetrating work of high quality. Work you won't easily forget."
- The Ouborg Award Jury on Jeroen Eisinga

On Friday 22 november 2019 the artist Jeroen Eisinga will receive the Ouborg Award 2019 for his impressive body of work. The official award ceremony will be accompanied by the opening of the exhibition Jeroen Eisinga - The social ladder (23 November- 22 March 2020) in Kunstmuseum Den Haag and the launch of the Dutch language publication De maatschappelijke ladder, published by Stroom Den Haag.

Jeroen Eisinga (1966) is an ambitious artist, not easily satisfied and always looking for new horizons. For his iconic film Springtime (2011) he was covered by a swarm of more than 150,000 bees. His work is very labor-intensive. Eisinga's oeuvre may be small, but it is very impressive. His films have been shown at international festivals and in art institutions all over the world and they are included in various museum collections and private collections.
www.jeroeneisinga.com

Publication
Part of the award is the Dutch language publication De maatschappelijke ladder, published by Stroom Den Haag. "It is a vibrant book full of ideas and discoveries", says Eisinga. "Sketches, ideas, thoughts, reflections, the set-up of projects, the completion of projects, failed projects and work never shown before. I have combined this with texts that should not be seen as an explanation of the work, but as underlying thoughts, and research, independent and autonomous."

Exhibition
For the exhibition Jeroen Eisinga - The social ladder in Kunstmuseum Den Haag Eisinga combines five films from the 1990: 40-44-PG (1993), Grauzone (1995), Het belangrijkste moment van mijn leven (1995), Night Porter (1993) and De maatschappelijke ladder (1996 - 2019). The latter film, from which both the exhibition and the publication derive their title, has never before been shown in public. In addition to these five films, visitors are also given an insight into the research and preparations that are part of the artist's creative process. Display cases present sketchbooks of 25 years of preliminary research. Sometimes they are autonomous works of art that are related to one of the films.

Ouborg Award
The Ouborg Award, named after the artist Pieter Ouborg (1893-1956) from The Hague, is a municipal award for visual arts. With the Ouborg Award, The Hague shows its pride and appreciation for the level, merit, quality and supra-local significance of the nominees and the extent to which they contribute to the artistic climate in the city and to its (international) image.
The Ouborg Award is awarded at the most once every two years and at least once every four years. The award consists of a sum of money of € 10.000, an exhibition in Kunstmuseum Den Haag (formerly known as Gemeentemuseum Den Haag) and a publication produced by Stroom Den Haag.

Ouborg Award winners 1990-present
Earlier laureates are: Christie van der Haak (2015), Marcel van Eeden (2013), André Kruysen (2011), Justin Bennett (2009), Zeger Reyers (2007), Ben van Os (2005), Hans van der Pennen (2003), Vojta Dukàt (2001), Philip Akkerman (1999), Auke de Vries (1997), Martin Rous (1996), Dick Raaijmakers (1995), Tomas Rajlich (1994), Lotti van der Gaag (1993), Gerard Fieret (1992), Wil Bouthoorn (1991), Frans Zwartjes (1990).

Jury Ouborg Award 2019
The jury of the Ouborg Award 2019 consisted of: Janneke Hendriks (graphic designer/Studio Janneke Hendriks), Christie van der Haak (former laureate, visual artist), Frits Dijcks (visual artist/Topp & Dubio/ism project space/editor-in-chief Jegens & Tevens), Benno Tempel (director Kunstmuseum Den Haag), Arno van Roosmalen (chairman, director Stroom Den Haag).

Acknowledgements
The Ouborg Award is a joint initiative of the City of The Hague, Kunstmuseum Den Haag and Stroom Den Haag.
This edition was also made possible by EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam.

'De maatschappelijke ladder' (cover)
Jeroen Eisinga, 'De maatschappelijke ladder', 1996-2019
photo: courtesy the artist
Jeroen Eisinga, '40-44-PG', 1993
photo: courtesy the artist
Jeroen Eisinga, 'Het belangrijkste moment van mijn leven', 1995
photo: courtesy the artist
Jeroen Eisinga, 'Night Porter', 1993
photo: courtesy the artist