The Association des Amis des Beaux-Arts of Paris, founded in 2007 by agnès b., Who is its president, aims to support students and artists from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris through awards, scholarships, project aids and sponsorships in the professional field of contemporary art.
In the Photography section, it is Clinton Liu, who is the winner of the Portrait Award, Bertrand de Demandolx -Dedons, Prix des Amis des Beaux-Arts of Paris 2019.
This is how he presents himself:
Through personal experience, I have seen how my subjects’ double culture French and Turkish, religion and family take them closer to the Turkish rather than the French side of their dual identity. I wanted to take a closer look at their lives.
I went out to meet Franco-Turks and take photos that capture my own reaction to these foreign faces, which I observe from different viewpoints. Simply inhabiting the same places allowed me into their personal spheres, so I tried to blend in and be accepted in their private spaces. I lived with different families for a few days and participated in their traditions. Returning to those families in the following months, I realized that, as I got to know them better, my photos became a kind of mirror of their emotions. At the same time, I learned to trust the integrity of my gaze, and the situations captured in my photos became more sincere and worthy of showing their lives. – Clinton Liu
About Clinton Liu
Born in 1993 in Taiwan, lives and works in Paris since 2016.
Clinton Liu is a student of École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he practices film photography in the studio of Patrick Faigenbaum and Marc Pataut.
Clinton exhibited at MAD Gallery in Marseille in 2014.
In 2016, he exhibited at the Toni-Areal gallery in Zurich and in the NANHAi gallery in Taipei.
In 2017, he participated in the exhibition The Shanghai North Exhibition Gallery in Shanghai.
In 2019, he participated in a series of group shows organized by Photo Saint-Germain and fonds de dotation agnès b.
He also won the prix du Portrait Bertrand de Demandolx Dedons in 2019 from the Amis des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Through his work, Clinton studies issues of identity and the individual’s belonging within an era, a place and more generally the world.
His work has an anthropological, sociological and geopolitical dimension.
About the Prix des Amis des Beaux-Arts de Paris
Les Amis des Beaux-Arts de Paris is an association founded in 2007 by agnès b., who chairs the organization. Its aim is to promote the reputation and renown of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, and to support its students and the artists it produces. Thanks to the work of its members and sponsors, the organization offers artists prizes, scholarships, project funding and mentorships in the field of contemporary art.
The organization schedules numerous visits and occasions for members in France and Europe, and organizes major collegial functions at the École, such as the Prix des Amis’ ceremony and cocktail reception, the Scholarships awards, and the annual gala dinner, accompanied by a masterclass. On December 9, 2019, the masterclass will be devoted to Annette Messager.
Every year in late June, coinciding with the École’s open day, Les Amis des Beaux-Arts award six prizes, privately funded by passionate philanthropists, to students selected by a jury of art professionals.
In 2019, seven students from a shortlist of fourteen were awarded prizes: the prix agnès b. was shared by Hugo-Ernest Jutel and Yue Yuan; Mathilde Soares won the prix Thaddaeus Ropac ; Anaïs-Tohé Commaret won the prix Weil Gotshal & Manges; Yi Yang won the prix Khalil de Chazournes; Daniel Nicolaevsky Maria won the prix des Amis des Beaux-Arts; and Clinton Liu won the prix du Bertrand de Demandolx-Dedons.
The excellent exhibition of shortlisted students, held last June in La Chapelle des Petits-Augustins, showcased a variety of personal worlds and practices. The jury chose to award prizes to two video artists, an artist devoting himself specifically to embroidery, a performer, a painter, a photographer, and a conceptual artist staging poetic actions. The research and works presented in these pages show considerable maturity and offer an excellent reflection of the artistic training offered by the École des Beaux-Arts, which has opened—and continues to open—new workshops. They reveal strong personalities engaged on a path to a promising future.
The laureates’ work will be presented to the public from December 2-13, 2019, during an exhibition held at agnès b.’s, 17, rue Dieu, 75010 Paris.
