ART
MAX MARA ART PRIZE FOR WOMEN GOES TO
DOMINIQUE WHITE
Max Mara, Whitechapel Gallery, and Collezione Maramotti are proud to announce the winner of the 9th edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women: Dominique White. The prize, aimed at supporting and promoting women artists at a pivotal moment in their career, grants White a bespoke six-month residency in Italy, designed to enhance and enrich her winning proposal, culminating in a solo exhibition to be held in 2024. The announcement was made during an exclusive ceremony at Whitechapel Gallery on March 28, 2023, co-hosted by Gilane Tawadros, Director of the Gallery, and Luigi Maramotti, CEO of Max Mara Fashion Group Srl.
Dominique White portrait by Bernice Mulenga. Courtesy the artist, Whitechapel Gallery.
Dominique White, a sculptor and installation artist based in Marseille and Essex, was selected from a group of esteemed finalists by a panel of art-world experts. Her winning proposal, entitled “Deadweight,” builds upon her previous work by exploring the concept of “deadweight tonnage” and its links to the historical slave trade and contemporary forms in the Mediterranean. White plans to use her residency to conduct research, mentorship, and study, visit key sites in southern Italy, and create new works for her solo exhibition. As part of the creative process, she also intends to submerge elements of her final work in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy.
White’s work, which delves into themes of Black Subjectivity, Afro-pessimism, and Hydrarchy, challenges the notion of power over land through water and redefines the term “Shipwreck(ed)” as a reflexive verb and state of being to embody the inherent abolition within her work. Her sculptures, or “beacons,” evoke sea-bound worlds and prophesize the emergence of the Stateless. Through her winning proposal and her residency, White will continue to engage with these critical themes and expand her artistic and political concerns.
