Helvetia Art Prize winner Bisso Yann Stéphane at the Liste Art Fair Basel
2024

Helvetia Holding AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous
Helvetia Art Prize winner Bisso Yann Stéphane at the Liste Art Fair Basel
2024

10.06.2024 / 09:00 CET/CEST

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Media release
Basel, 10 June 2024

The 2023 Helvetia Art Prize has been won by Bisso Yann Stéphane. This award
gives the artist and graduate of the Master's degree programme at HEAD in
Geneva the opportunity to exhibit his works at this year's Liste Art Fair
Basel. In a unique pictorial language between landscapes, portraits and
abstract snapshots in time, Bisso Yann Stéphane's painting merges memories
of his personal history, representations of a perceived present as well as
future hopes and aspirations in a dreamlike space of fantasy.

In his work Bisso Yann Stéphane, originally from Cameroon, questions the
historical memory of his double identity through the artistic construction
of landscapes. Using this classical medium he addresses highly relevant
sociopolitical issues, opening up a fresh and very personal perspective on
the classical genre of landscape painting.

The focus of Bisso's painting lies in a field of tension stemming from his
research on the diasporic culture of the Caribbean philosopher and writer
Edouard Glissant and the latter's understanding of the concept of
creolization. Glissant speaks of an intermediary and spiritual space that
opens up between the place we originally came from and our increasing
affinity with new geographical areas.

"Les nuages sont des vagabonds"
In his landscape paintings, Bisso draws from this dreamlike state between
memory and imagination. In doing so he illuminates an intimate reflection on
themes of rootedness, identity and our understanding of place and time. In
the series "les nuages sont des vagabonds" exhibited at the Liste Art Fair
Basel, banks of clouds take centre stage and mingle with views of a horizon,
sleeping giants, children playing and a swan that seems to reveal a second
face. The individual scenes open up a view of nature in which warm lights
and the clear moonlight meet open fields, icy waters and high walls.

Help getting started as part of the commitment to art
With the Art Prize, Helvetia Insurance supports young artists at the
beginning of their career. For example, the Helvetia Art Prize is aimed at
students who will soon graduate from Swiss universities of applied sciences
in the field of "visual arts and media art". The prize includes double
start-up aid: the winner receives not only prize money of 15,000 francs but
also the opportunity to present their work to an international specialist
audience and the public with a solo exhibition at the Liste Art Fair Basel.
Since its foundation in 1996, the Liste has been dedicated to the active
promotion of galleries and artists of a young and slightly more established
artists.

The Helvetia Art Prize is an essential part of the international insurance
group's commitment to the arts. The prize has been awarded annually since
2004. Originally called the Nationale Suisse Art Prize, since the merger of
Helvetia and Nationale Suisse it has been known as the Helvetia Art Prize.
Helvetia, which also insures art, has one of the most important collections
of contemporary Swiss art dating back 80 years. The collection focuses on
painting, drawings and photography. Since 2015, Helvetia has had its own
exhibition space, the Helvetia Art Foyer, which is open to the public. At
the end of May 2024, the Helvetia Art Foyer opened a new exhibition space at
the Helvetia Campus in Basel, where either thematic exhibitions, which
include works from Helvetia's own collection, or solo presentations by
artists are shown.

Eric Zeller
Senior Communications Manager / Media spokesperson

Phone: +41 58 280 50 33
media.relations@helvetia.ch

About the Helvetia Group
Helvetia Group, with its headquarters in St. Gallen, has grown since 1858 to
become a successful insurance group with over 13,800 employees and more than
7.2 million customers. It has been enabling its customers to seize
opportunities and minimise risks for all that time - Helvetia is there for
them when it matters. Helvetia is the best partner and is present everywhere
that protection needs arise, with insurance, pension and investment
solutions from a single source as well as simple products and processes. The
insurance group knows the business, from mobile phone insurance and
insurance cover for the Gotthard Base Tunnel to the long-term investment of
customer assets. Helvetia develops and opens up new business models with
enthusiasm and drives forward its own business in a powerful and
future-oriented manner. It acts with foresight and responsibility in
everything it does: for the benefit of its shareholders, customers and
employees as well as its partners, society and the environment.
Helvetia is the leading all-lines insurer in Switzerland. In the Europe
segment comprising Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain, the company has firmly
rooted market positions for generating above-average growth. In the
Specialty Markets segment, Helvetia offers tailored special insurance and
reinsurance cover worldwide. With a business volume of CHF 11.3 billion,
Helvetia generated underlying earnings of CHF 372.5 million and an IFRS net
income of CHF 301.3 million in the 2023 financial year. The shares of
Helvetia Holding AG are traded on SIX Swiss Exchange.

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   Language:       English
   Company:        Helvetia Holding AG
                   Dufourstrasse 40
                   9001 St.Gallen
                   Switzerland
   E-mail:         media.relations@helvetia.ch
   Internet:       www.helvetia.com
   ISIN:           CH0466642201
   Valor:          46664220
   Listed:         SIX Swiss Exchange
   EQS News ID:    1921047

End of News EQS News Service
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1921047 10.06.2024 CET/CEST