2009 Biennale of Chianciano, Tuscany, Italy

Gillie and Marc win first prize!

Gillie and Marc have won first prize at the 2009 Biennale of Chianciano Tuscany, Italy for their painting, He’ll never be famous but he doesn’t give a damn, he’s a musician.

The Biennale of Chianciano 2009 is a momentous show of contemporary art set in the beautiful Tuscan province of Siena, an area steeped in rich cultural diversity and artistically inspiring scenery. It’s also the birthplace of Dante Alighieri, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo.

The exhibition incorporates some of the finest contemporary art in the world. A highly-esteemed judging panel chose 150 participants from thousands of contemporary artists. There were artists participating from countries as diverse as the Philippines, China, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, England, Australia and the USA. The artists have participated in numerous exhibitions and can be found in museums and in the most important private collections around the world. Similarly, the movements represented were equally varied from the delicate tones of Impressionism to the gestural marks of Abstract Expressionism.

The international jury panel was won over by the painting from husband and wife team, Gillie and Marc Schattner, and awarded it first prize. The winning painting was titled; He’ll never be famous but he doesn’t give a damn, he’s a musician, a portrait of a young guitarist with the head of a Dalmatian. Gillie and Marc have also been included this week in the Blake Prize Directors Cut exhibition with their controversial sculpture of Jesus riding a skateboard. The sculpture is titled: If Jesus was alive today he would be a skateboarder.

Gillie and Marc are also invited to exhibit in the 2009 Florence Biennale, which opens in December.