Marval Acquisition Award

 
Addressed primarily to emerging and mid-career artists, the Marval Acquisition Award consists of an acquisition to be added to the Marval Collection, a residency offered to the winning artist, and a targeted communication campaign on the Collection’s network to give the artist and gallery as much visibility as possible.

The Marval Collection was formed in 2018 by two collectors - Marco and Valeria - who decided to join forces by creating a foundation and a program to support not only young artists, but fairs and galleries as well.

Marval believes strongly in the art system consisting of institutions, galleries, and fairs that work daily to sustain skilled and talented artists who need visibility and assistance. Therefore, it supports institutions and fairs so that they may provide a platform to all of the artists who feel the need to transmit, through their work, a message they deem important from a social, political, emotional, and economic perspective.

In recent years, Marval has collaborated with museums, private institutions, and fairs in cities such as Turin, Verona, Barcelona, Madrid, and Marseille, providing awards, loans, and acknowledgements. Among these is the Marval Acquisition Award, with which the Collection has participated in the Arte Fiera since 2024.

Jury:
Marco and Valeria Curina, collectors

Candidates:

• Marta Naturale (Zero…, B3)
• Wenhui Hao (L.U.P.O. – Lorenzelli Projects, A33)
• Edgar Orlaineta (Wizard, B40)
• Deng Shiqing (C+N Canepaneri, B26)
• Sang Woo Kim (Herald St, B8)

Winners:
Sang Woo Kim
Title of winning work: The corner 015, Oil on canvas, artist’s frame, 26x21x3 cm, 2024
Gallery: Herald St, B8

Wenhui Hao
Title of winning work: Blue Butterfly Passage, Oil on canvas, 98x124cm, 2025
Gallery: L.U.P.O. – Lorenzelli Projects, A33

Motivation: Two artists of classical painting were chosen, Sang Woo Kim (a man), and Wenhui Hao (a woman), both from Asia: the work by Sang Woo Kim, from South Korea, is figurative; that of Wenhui Hao, from China, is abstract. The jury also paid particular attention to the choice of galleries: galleries of research and representatives of the artists. They chose the British gallery Herald St and the young Italian gallery L.U.P.O. – Lorenzelli Projects. Sang Woo Kim was selected because the Marval Collection already contains the work of Chiara Enzo, thereby creating a link between Italian and South Korean art. Wenhui Hao is a young woman with a very contemporary painting technique that stands out for the colors and technique utilized.