Sergio Lucena, Platibanda series N°04, 2023, oil on canvas, 78/74 x 78/74 inches
The Board of Directors of the Villa Seurat Foundation for Contemporary Art is delighted to announce the composition of the jury for the 2024 call for projects. The jury is made up of Thierry Forien, Nadine Hounkpatin, Sergio Lucena, Maria Lund and Debra Spark. Their biographies are reproduced below. We would like to thank them warmly for agreeing to take part in this jury.
Passionate about art and culture in all its forms, Thierry Forien is a collector of classical and contemporary art. He supports the contemporary art scene through his involvement with various cultural institutions, by participating in juries and selection committees and by writing texts for young artists. He is a trustee of the Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré (Tours), a member of the gallery selection committee for the Pareidolie fair (Marseille), a member of the Fluxus Art Projects Artistic Committee (London), and a trustee of the FRAC Picardie.
Independent producer and curator, Nadine Hounkpatin works between France and Africa. She works with the continent’s cultural players and takes part in various initiatives to support the art scenes in Africa and its diasporas. Co-founder of the platform TheArtMomentum, she supports artists and institutions in their special projects. Since 2021, she has also curated the travelling exhibition Memoria: Tales from Another History. Nadine is also a member of the curatorial team for the Biennale Photographique de Bamako 2024 and guest curator of the group exhibition Something Else IV in Cairo.
Sergio Lucena studied physics and psychology at the Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB) in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil. He interrupted his studies to dedicate himself to art. He as held several solo exhibitions in museum institutions and has his work present in important public and private collections, in Brazil and abroad.
Furthermore, he has received awards in major art salons and, in 2012, he was awarded the “Prêmio Mário Pedrosa” by the Associação Brasileira de Críticos de Arte (ABCA), in the Contemporary Artist category.
Born in Copenhagen, Maria Lund is an independent gallery owner in Paris (since 1999). She was a member of the board of directors of La Maison du Danemark Paris (2007 to 2020). She has chaired the Arts Commission of the Charles Oulmont Foundation (since 2015) and is president of the TransHumances company (since 2019). In 2020-21 she was one of the representatives of the Comité Professionnel des Galeries d’Art within the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP). She represents around twenty international artists, whom she also accompanies on a long-term basis for public or private commissions. She takes part in numerous juries in France and abroad.
Debra Spark is the American author of eleven books, including her most recent novels, Discipline and Unknown Caller, and two books of essays on fiction writing. She co-edited an anthology called 20 Under 30, where some of today’s best-known American authors first appeared. She also co-edited an anthology of essays titled Breaking Bread to raise funds for a hunger non-profit. Her short work, including book reviews, op-eds, essays, and articles, have appeared in Esquire, the New York Times, salon.com, and elsewhere.