In the eighties, the Swiss gallery owner Roswitha Haftmann had already thought of the idea to create a foundation to which she would leave the greater part of her fortune in works of art. Begun in 1999, the immediate aim of the Foundation was to recognise achievements in the visual artists. To this end, the Roswitha Haftmann prize was born in 2001, and put in economic terms, it’s Europe’s most generous recognition awarding 150,000 Swiss francs (about 136,000 dollars) to a living artist. It is a notable sum that prize winners are selected for solely on the basis of the artistic significance of their work, without regard to their personal circumstances.

The Swiss prize is awarded annually by the namesake Zurich foundation and was won last year by the American Richard Artschwager while the previous year it went to Peter Fischll and David Welss. Other significant international artists had previously received recognition: Robert Ryman, Mona Hatoum, Jeff Wall, Maria Lassig and Walter De Maria. Also for 2008 the Roswitha Haftmann Prize will be given to an illustrious name. The jury that consisted of Christoph Becker (director of Kunsthaus of Zurich), Katharina Schmidt, Bernhard Mendes Bürgi (director of the Ludwig museum of Cologne) and Thomas Wagner (journalist) proclaimed the winner. He is Douglas Gordan, a fourty year old Scottish video artist and is one of the most important figures of the British art scene during the eighties and nineties.

Gordon has always been interested in double-screen video installations and moving images and has placed his video installations in unusual dimensions. He also imprints text onto exhibition walls in different arrangements. In 2006, Douglas Gordan was the protagonist of two of his own important works in the Moma in New York and Mart of Rovereto in which he presented the following along with the others: “Play Dead: Real Time“; a now celebrated video installation in which the camera films an elephant outstretched on the floor of the New York Gagosian gallery, pretending to be dead. Gordon has always considered the artistic location as an environment in which the audience places themselves in relation to the work, a space open to dialogue and social dynamics, a place in which to reflect on one’s life.

The Scottish artist’s fame didn’t only take hold in artistic circles but also became deep rooted in the cinematographic world. In fact, last year at the Cannes festival the “film-maker” was nominated for the Golden Palm for his documentary on the French footballer Zidane. By now, Douglas Gordon is used to receiving prizes and prestigious recognitions of international fame. He had already won the Turner Prize in 1996, awarded each year by the Tate in London. Now he is preparing for the award ceremony that will be held on 8th May at Kunsthaus in Zurich where the Roswitha Haftmann Foundation officials have their head office. Moreover, an autumn exhibition dedicated to the artist in the Hubert Bächler gallery in Zurich is scheduled.

For Douglas GORDON’s quotes, please Click here.