Jewelry Artist Esther Knobel Named 2008 Andy Prize Winner

Jerusalem, November 21, 2007 – Israeli jewelry artist Esther Knobel has been named the winner of 2008 Andy Prize. The prestigious international panel of judges noted that “Knobel challenges the concept of craftsmanship, stretching the limits of her discipline and articulating a fresh statement with each work. She creates a dialogue between the artist, the piece and the user.”

Philanthropist Charles Bronfman, who founded the Andrea Bronfman prize for decorative arts in 2006, personally phoned Knobel from New York to inform her of the award. “The Andy Prize reflects innovation and excellence, and every stage of Knobel’s work clearly represents these ideals,” said Bronfman.

The Tel Aviv Museum of Art will host an exhibit of Esther Knobel’s work in July 2008 as part of The Andy Prize award. Says Meira Yagid Haimovich, curator of the Department of Design and Architecture of the museum: “Knobel draws her themes from everyday life, deconstructing memories, traditions and symbols in her crossover from the narrative to the conceptual world.”


Now in its third year, The Andrea Bronfman Prize for Decorative Arts, founded by her husband Charles Bronfman, is an annual award for an outstanding Israeli artist in ceramics, jewelry, textile or glass. The winner receives a prize of NIS 50,000, a catalogue and an exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. In addition, two works will be purchased for the Tel Aviv Museum and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.


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Influential Japanese Trendsetter Teruo Kurosaki To Serve as 2008 Andy Prize Judge

Jerusalem, September 23, 2007 – The organizers of the The Andy Prize announced today that Teruo Kurosaki, Japanese interior stylist and consultant, will serve as the international judge of its prestigious jury.  Now in its third year, The Andrea Bronfman Prize for Decorative Arts, founded by Charles Bronfman, is an annual award for an outstanding Israeli artist in ceramics, jewelry, textile, or glass.  The winner receives a prize of NIS 50,000, an exhibition of his or her work at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the purchase of two works for the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
 

Highly-acclaimed for his prominent role in shaping and advancing the Japanese urban design scene, Kurosaki is often dubbed the “Terence Conran of Japan.”  He is widely celebrated as the creator of the Tokyo Designers Block, a popular international exhibition of contemporary design; and the founder of SPUTNIK, an international design collective. His two design companies, IDEE and Flowstone, showcase and market the work of rising designers. Among the best known artists discovered and promoted by Kurosaki are French interior and product designer Philippe Starck, Australian-born furniture and product designer Marc Newson, and Shiro Kuramata, one of the most influential designers of the 20th century.


Kurosaki will be making his first visit to Israel in mid-November for the selection of the 2008 Andy Prize winner.


The jury panel also includes Nirith Nelson, veteran curator and chairperson of The Andy Prize jury; Tali Lachover, artist and designer, head of the Department for Textile Design at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design; and, Meira Yagid Haimovich, curator of the Department of Design and Architecture at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

 
The Andy Prize is receiving candidates’ applications through November 9th. 



Andy Prize 2007 Exhibition: A Second Second Timepieces by Itay Noy
June 13 - October 27, 2007 Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv
www.eretzmuseum.org.il

Israeli artist and jeweler Itay Noy is the winner of the 2007 Andy Prize, it was announced.

January 23 – To mark one year since the untimely passing of Andrea Bronfman, an international jury of judges announced that Israeli artist and jeweler Itay Noy has won the 2007 Andy Prize, given in her name by her husband, philanthropist Charles Bronfman. The prestigious panel of judges chose Noy for his skillful integration of traditional craftsmanship with advanced technology. His work was praised for its “philosophical exploration of the notion of time, evoking a dialogue with the viewer on both aesthetical and conceptual levels.”

Charles Bronfman will present The Andy Prize, totaling NIS 50,000, to Noy at the Prize Ceremony at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv on June 12, 2007. His work and an accompanying catalogue will be on exhibit at the Eretz Israel Museum, which has partnered with The Andy Prize in promoting and cultivating art in Israel. In addition, one of the artist’s works will be bought and gifted to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Itai Noy, an internationally acclaimed artist and jeweler of collectible timepieces, is the winner of the 2007 Andy prize. Born in Israel in 1972, Noy is a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and the Design Academy in Eindhoven in the Netherlands. He has participated in over 20 group and commercial exhibitions around the world and his works are on display in private collections in New York and Holland. He has won numerous awards including the 2005 Ministry of Immigrant Absorption Outstanding Artist, as a returning artist, and first prize in design in the Academies category in the 2000 Bienniale Internationale Design in France.
www.itay-noy.com


Winner of the first Andy Prize: Hadas Rosenberg-Nir

Hadas Rosenberg-Nir, a ceramic artist and designer whose work blends pottery and industrial design, was awarded the Andy Prize for 2006. As the winner, Rosenberg-Nir received NIS 50,000. An exhibit of her works was put on display at the Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv for several months starting in June 2006, and an accompanying catalogue was published. In addition, one of her pieces was bought and donated to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Rosenberg-Nir teaches pottery and ceramics at the University of Haifa and Beit Berl College’s Art School, the “Midrasha.” She holds the equivalent of an M.A. degree in art education from the Ministry of Education. In 1985, Rosenberg-Nir earned a B.F.A. in ceramic design from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design.

On January 23, 2006, three judges – Nirith Nelson, the Art Director of the Jerusalem Center for the Visual Arts (JCVA), Yaakov Kaufman, a senior lecturer in Industrial Design at Bezalel, and Jennifer Opie, a longtime decorative arts curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London – chose Rosenberg-Nir from among 100 applicants as the winner of The Andy. The decision was unanimous.