Ladislav Sutnar Prize Laureates

Magdalena Jetelová / CZ
Magdalena Jetelová received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for her interdisciplinary projects involving conceptual art, land art, architecture, sculptures and light projections embedded in specific spaces, as well as for her long-term teaching activities.

Magdalena Jetelová is an internationally renowned artist who gained prominence through her monumental objects with a strong political undertone already during the time she spent in her home country, where she pursued various artistic activities to distance herself from the official visual art scene of the time. After moving to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1985, she received international recognition not only due to her unique projects, but also due to her teaching positions at prestigious art schools such as the Art Academy Düsseldorf and the Academy of Fine Arts Munich.

University of Applied Arts Vienna / AT
The renowned art university received the award for its activities that draw on historical traditions, but also keep developing new ideas about how to participate in creating and managing the changes in technologies and media.

The University of Applied Arts Vienna is the successor to the Imperial Royal Arts and Crafts School founded in 1867, which was closely affiliated with the Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry (today known as the Museum of Applied Art). The school was elevated to college in 1941 and officially designated as a university in 1970. Its current name was introduced in 1998. Apart from teaching, the university conducts research with the aim to define key thematic points in response to current challenges in society, to design work processes open towards society, and to actively anchor the results in the change-oriented public discourse.

Printed Matter, Inc. / USA
Printed Matter, Inc., a globally renowned non-profit organization, won the award for spreading and promoting artists’ books, publications designed as artworks of their own.

Established in 1976 by a group of personalities active in the field of art (Sol LeWitt and Lucy Lippard among others), Printed Matter responded to the increasing interest in publications created by artists as works of art. Its comprehensive approach sees artists’ books as remarkable expressions of the current artistic practice. While focusing on this international phenomenon, Printed Matter also founded the New York Art Book Fair and the Los Angeles Art Book Fair, which have developed into leading international gatherings for the distribution of and research in artists’ books and related publications.

Stuart Haygarth / GB
The prominent British artist and key figure in contemporary design, received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for his work, which focuses on ecological issues, waste and overproduction.

The central motif of Haygarth's objects and installations is the elevation of ordinary or discarded objects of everyday life to luxury products. At the same time, the story and the process of collecting and sorting materials is an important part of his work. His now-iconic Tide chandelier from 2005, created from multicoloured, mostly plastic objects washed up on the shore, is considered to be one of Haygarth's most successful designs. Its impact is not only due to its visual qualities, but – as in the case of other works – to its strong concept.

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar / DEU
The renowned art university received the prize for fulfilling Gropius' vision of Art and Technology - a new unity through its specialisation in artistic and technical fields and interdisciplinary cooperation.

Since 1996, the university has been following in the tradition of its distinguished predecessor, which gave birth to a new type of modern art school, not only through its name but also through its willingness to experiment, international openness and creativity. Its faculties and research areas offer a wide range of teaching opportunities in about 40 courses of study, including fine arts, design, visual communication, media design, media studies, computer science, architecture, civil engineering, materials science, processing technology, environment and management.

ZKM - Zentrum für Kunst und Medien Karlsruhe / DEU
The globally renowned cultural institution operating at the intersection of art and science received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for its research activities, projects and education in the field of digitalization of art.

ZKM Karlsruhe was founded in 1989 with the mission of exploring the possibilities of merging traditional art with modern media technologies. It deals with a wide range of media and genres – both spatial arts such as painting, photography and sculpture, and time-based arts such as film, video, media art, music, dance, theatre and performance. With its research platform, media library, library and exhibition spaces, it provides scholars and artists from all over the world with ideal conditions for carrying out theoretical and practical projects.

Stefan Sagmeister / AT
Stefan Sagmeister received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for the courage he has been demonstrating in graphic design all his life.

He studied this discipline at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and, on a Fulbright scholarship, at the Pratt Institute in New York. In 1993 he founded the Sagmeister Inc. studio in New York and started creating logos, graphic designs and covers for various clients including the Rolling Stones, HBO, the Guggenheim Museum and Time Warner. He has been collaborating with the musicians David Byrne and Lou Reed on a long-term basis. Stefan Sagmeister has received many prestigious awards and his works have been exhibited in Zurich, Vienna, New York, Berlin, Osaka, Prague, Köln and Soul. He lives and works in New York, where he teaches at the School of Visual Arts.

ArsElectronica Linz / AT
The cultural, educational and scientific centre ArsElectronica received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for its support of the connection between art, technology and social sciences and for its exemplary long-term work on developing a space for a free demonstration of ground-breaking prototypes, new forms of communication, innovative business models and prophetic works of art.

ArtsElectronica was established in 1979. Its philosophy is based on the postulate that digitalization is not a technological, but social development. The organisation has successfully evolved ever since and widened its activities and assets, proving that the ideas underlying its establishment were right. ArtsElectronia’s activities respond to the fast pace of the digital revolution.

Kunst Akademie Düsseldorf / DEU
The renowned arts university received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for its long-term quality in providing education in the field of art and for its extraordinary support of cosmopolitan dialogical spirit of art.

The academy’s tradition dates back to the 1760s. In the course of time, it has become an internationally acclaimed institution. The highlights of its cultural history include the so-called Düsseldorf school of painting in the first half of the 19^th century and the period between the late 1950s and the end of the 1970s, when it was associated with such personalities as Joseph Beuys, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Gerhard Richter and Günther Uecker. The Academy’s educational approach is currently considered to be one of the most liberal in the world. Its teaching staff consists of excellent teachers from Great Britain, USA, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Germany and other countries.

At the ceremony in Pilsen, the Ladislav Sutnar Prize was also handed over to a representative of Svenska Tecknare, an association of Swedish illustrators and graphic designers. The association had received the prize already in 2020 when the awarding ceremony did not take place due to the global pandemic.

Nigel Holmes / USA
Nigel Holmes received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for his extremely stimulating and activating work in the field of information visualization. His work has been and still is very influential and is undoubtedly often perceived – in a positive way – controversially because of his unique style that includes many experiments.

Nigel Holmes focuses on information graphics and information design. After graduating from Royal College of Art in London, he ran his own successful graphic design practice in England. First, he worked as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer for clients such as British Broadcasting Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Island Records. His work appeared in New Scientist, Radio Times, The Observer, Daily Telegraph and The Times. Later on, Holmes worked in the map and chart department of Time magazine, where he subsequently became graphics director. He has also worked for Apple, Fortune, Nike, The Smithsonian Institution, Sony, United Healthcare, US Airways and Visa.

Neville Brody / UK
Neville Brody won the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for his contribution to graphic design and typography and for his achievements in the interdisciplinary dialogue.

An alumnus of the London College of Communication and Hornsey College of Art, Brody is a British graphic designer, typographer and art director. He is known for his work for The Face magazine, Arena magazine as well as for designing record covers for artists such as Depeche Mode and Cabaret Voltaire. He created the company Research Studios in 1994 and is a founding member of Fontworks. He was also the Dean of the School of Communication at the Royal College of Art in London. Research Studios’ sister company called Research Publishing produces and publishes experimental multi-media works by young artists. Its primary focus is on FUSE, a series of conferences and quarterly forums for experimental typography and communications. The conferences bring together speakers from the world of design, architecture, sound, film, interactive design and web design. In 1990 Neville Brody founded FontFont, the largest typeface library, together with Erik Spiekermann. Notable fonts designed by Brody include the updated typeface for the Times newspaper, Times Modern, as well as New Deal and Industria.

HIT Holon Institute of Technology / ISR
The Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for its unquestionable achievements in the field of the promotion and implementation of the “Hi-Tech Nation” concept through pioneering creativity, research and development. Linking academia and industry, HIT promotes the integration of science, engineering, design and management. The school’s vision “To have an impact on the academic community in Israel and abroad” is being successfully fulfilled. We are proud to become HIT’s partners on its ways to achieving this goal.

Svenska Tecknare / SWE
Svenska Tecknare, the association of Swedish illustrators and graphic designers, received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for exemplary care for the protection of the intellectual property rights of illustrators, artists and graphic designers. Founded in 1955, the association is a great model for other European professional organizations which work on proposals and changes to copyright law, offer professional advice, and monitor and reflect on issues related to cultural and trade policies.

Pekka Loiri / FIN
Pekka Loiri won the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for his lifetime contribution to graphic design, its production, art education and promotion. An important figure in graphic design both in Scandinavia and around the globe, Loiri is a prominent professional specializing in posters, book design, cover design but also in logos and brand design. Loiri’s designing philosophy is based on the principles of simplicity and plainness. He has received a number of awards, including the Graphis Poster Gold Award, Lahti Poster Biennial, Mexico Poster Biennial, Best Nordic Book Poster, National Arts Councils State Award for Applied Arts, Finish Cultural Foundation Award, Grafia Platinum Award and ProCom Union Lifetime Achievement Award. He also has a respectable record as a teacher, including positions at the University of Art and Design, Helsinki (now Aalto University), the MG School of Helsinki and visiting positions at schools all around the world. He supports the promotion of graphic design also as chairman of the Lahti Poster Triennial.

Milton Glaser / USA
Milton Glaser received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for his valuable, meaningful and long-term contribution to the field of design. He is a symbol of the American graphic design in the second half of the twentieth century and also his international influence in this field is very impressive. Glaser is an extremely creative artist capable of formulating his ideas in a clear way. He is a modern Renaissance man whose highly inventive and characteristic work combines deep understanding and conceptual thinking with the diversity of the visual language. Between 1954 and 1983, he founded several successful companies, such as the revolutionary Push Pin Studios. His works are included in the permanent collections of many world-renowned museums. He has organized solo exhibitions at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and at the MoMA in New York. An influential figure in design as well as in the field of education and design promotion, Glaser presents his ideas in essays and interviews. In 2004, he received the lifetime achievement award of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

Warren Lehrer / USA
Warren Lehrer won the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for his pioneering work in the field of visual literature and authorial design. His work examines the turbidity and luminescence of symbols, the relationships between social structures and individuals, as well as the pathos and absurdity of life. His books and projects have received numerous awards, his works have been exhibited around the world and are included in the collections of many museums and galleries such as the Museum of Modern Art, L.A. County Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Getty Museum, Walker Arts Center, Centre Georges Pompidou and Tate Gallery. Lehrer also often works as a lecturer, keynote speaker, performer and moderator at universities, conferences, arts and literature centres as well as bookstores across the United States and around the world. He has collaborated with musicians, actors, filmmakers, technicians and other artists. In recent years Lehrer has been involved in the transposition of stories and texts into animations, videos and interactive media.

Kit Hinrichs / USA
Kit Hinrichs won the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for his unquestionable lifelong contribution to graphic design. After graduating from the Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles, Hinrichs headed several designer studios in New York and San Francisco and for many years was a partner at Pentagram, an international consulting company. In his work he dealt with a wide spectrum of projects, ranging from identity design, corporate communications and promotion to packaging design, editorial design and exhibition design. In 2004 Hinrichs won the prestigious AIGA medal for his extraordinary achievements in the field of graphic and visual communication. His works are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress. He is the co-author of four major publications: Typewise, Long May She Wave, 100 American Flag Icons and The Pentagram Papers.

Václav Aulický / CZ
Václav Aulický won the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for his lifetime achievement in the field of architecture. In 1967 he completed his studies in architecture and urban development at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague. Since the 1970s he has been working in the civil engineering company Spojprojekt Praha, specializing in buildings used for communication technologies and transmitters. Aulický kept a studio here even after the original state-owned company was transformed into a joint-stock company and privatized. He has attracted the attention of the wider public through his controversial design of the Žižkov Television Tower, the tallest building in Prague, and as one of the architects of the Transgas building in Prague, which was demolished in 2019. Since 2005 he has also headed one of the studios at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University, where he was later habilitated as associate professor.

Eric De Groat and ArkDes / SWE
The Ladislav Sutnar Prize went to Eric De Groat, deputy director of ArkDes, the Swedish national centre for architecture and design, for the indisputable achievements in the promotion of architecture and design and for the incubation and spin-off activities for students and graduates in the field of art and design. The centre’s mission is to raise the awareness of and cultivate the discussion about the influence architecture and design have on everyday human life. To achieve this goal, ArkDes organizes educational programmes, ensures access of both researchers and the public to a library and a collection encompassing about 4 million objects of global importance, and co-organizes a number of international curatorial and research projects.

Gerrit Rietveld Academie  / NL
The Ladislav Sutnar Prize was awarded to the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam for its indisputable contribution to and the promotion of education in the field of design and art and for its cultural impact. The academy was established already in 1924 and its educational philosophy was initially influenced by the critical thinking of De Stijl and Bauhaus. For several decades, the academy ranked among the most prominent and most prestigious educational institutions of its kind worldwide. Its professors and graduates hold the highest positions in the world of culture and their work co-determines the visual world we live in.

Helena Krbcová / CZ
The Ladislav Sutnar Prize was awarded to Helena Krbcová for her extraordinary contribution to education in the field of fashion design. She encourages her students to reflect on their relationship with people’s lifestyle, to perceive historical events and to transform their substance into conceptual visual designs and projects. Her students have been very successful at major international student competitions, such as the US Arts of Fashion Competition, and their works are presented in the collections of renowned institutions, such as MoMA in New York. Moreover, Helena Krbcová has been member of a number of juries and pursues her own creative career.

Taiwan Design Centre / TWN
The Taiwan Design Centre received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for building bridges between the contemporary Asian and global cultural scenes. It is a great example of how a brownfield site can be transformed into a functional cultural centre where the visitors can acquaint themselves with the contemporary Taiwanese culture and design in their historical context, as well as with the current global developments in this field. Its main missions are to elevate original and creative capabilities of Taiwanese designers, promote international design exchanges, strengthen Taiwan’s industrial competitiveness through design, and help enterprises build up their own brands in the global economic market.

Stichting NDSM-werf / NL
The Ladislav Sutnar Prize was awarded to Stichting NDSM-werf Amsterdam for its exemplary incubation support for young lively art, artistic handicraft and design. NDSM-werf is an extensive and dynamic creative zone set up on the site of a former Amsterdam harbour. It provides a stage for young creative artists for whom traditional expositions, exhibition halls and arts museums are still accessible only with difficulties. Its fresh energy and its openness to experiments in the cross-over genre make this centre a magnet for creative talents from all around the world. It is not an isolated community, but a centre that draws the attention of the broad public.