HUGO BOSS announces that artist Danh Vo has been awarded the HUGO BOSS Prize for 2012. Established in 1996, the HUGO BOSS Prize has become a significant forum for recognizing achievement in contemporary art. HUGO BOSS is pleased to continue its close relationship with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and confer this award to Danh Vo as its ninth recipient.

Innovation and creativity are the sole criteria when determining the recipient. There are no restrictions in terms of age, gender, nationality, or artistic media. The prize carries an award of $100,000 and is administered by the Guggenheim Foundation. An exhibition of Vo’s work will be on view at the Guggenheim Museum in spring 2013.

“HUGO BOSS is honored to continue to work with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation to recognize outstanding achievement in the field of contemporary art,” stated Claus-Dietrich Lahrs, Chairman and CEO, HUGO BOSS AG. “We congratulate Danh Vo on his selection, along with all of the other artists on their nomination. As part of its corporate mission, HUGO BOSS seeks to recognize groundbreaking work in the field and continues its longtime patronage of contemporary art and artists.”

Danh Vo (b. 1975, Bà Rịa, Vietnam) was selected from a group of six finalists, which included Trisha Donnelly, Rashid Johnson, Monika Sosnowska, Tris Vonna-Michell, and Qiu Zhijie. The distinguished international jury for the HUGO BOSS Prize 2012 was chaired by Nancy Spector, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and included Magali Arriola, Curator, Colección Jumex, Ecatepec de Morelos, Mexico; Suzanne Cotter, Curator, Abu Dhabi Project, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Kate Fowle, Executive Director, Independent Curators International, New York; Nat Trotman, Associate Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and, Theodora Vischer, Senior Curator at Large, Fondation Beyeler, Basel.

“We have chosen to award the HUGO BOSS Prize 2012 to Danh Vo in recognition of the vivid and influential impact he has made on the currents of contemporary art making,” the jury said in describing its selection. “Vo’s assured and subtle work expresses a number of urgent concerns related to cultural identity, politics, and history, evoking these themes through shifting, poetic forms that traverse time and geography. This year’s HUGO BOSS Prize shortlist represented an exceptionally accomplished group of artists, and we wish to commend all six of the nominees for the strength and originality of their practices.”

This year marks the ninth presentation of the HUGO BOSS Prize at the Guggenheim Museum. Since its inception in 1996, the Prize has been awarded to American artist Matthew Barney (1996), Scottish artist Douglas Gordon (1998), Slovenian artist Marjetica Potrč (2000), French artist Pierre Huyghe (2002), Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija (2004), British artist Tacita Dean (2006), Palestinian artist Emily Jacir (2008), and German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann (2010). Previous finalists have included Laurie Anderson, Janine Antoni, Cai Guo-Qiang, Stan Douglas, and Yasumasa Morimura in 1996; Huang Yong Ping, William Kentridge, Lee Bul, Pipilotti Rist, and Lorna Simpson in 1998; Vito Acconci, Maurizio Cattelan, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Tom Friedman, Barry Le Va, and Tunga in 2000; Francis Alÿs, Olafur Eliasson, Hachiya Kazuhiko, Koo Jeong-a, and Anri Sala in 2002; Franz Ackermann, Rivane Neuenschwander, Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij, Simon Starling, and Yang Fudong in 2004; Allora & Calzadilla, John Bock, Damián Ortega, Aïda Ruilova, and Tino Sehgal in 2006; Christoph Büchel, Patty Chang, Sam Durant, Joachim Koester, and Roman Signer in 2008; and, Cao Fei, Roman Ondák, Walid Raad, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul in 2010.