BE OPEN Art, an online art gallery project by Elena Baturina’s BE OPEN think tank, has just announced the winner of their Artist of the Year title in 2024, and a number of other exciting news and innovations. BE OPEN congratulates the talented Imile Wepener who was voted the Artist of the Month back in April, and now by the majority of votes – the Artist of the Year 2024 and an awardee of €1000!
Imile Wepener is an artist and illustrator from Johannesburg, South Africa. While obtaining his BA Honours in Visual Communication from The Open Window Institute in Pretoria, Imile was an apprentice of South African master puppeteer Toby van Eck, and added puppetry to his skillset that also includes sculpture, animation and painting. He currently works as a freelance illustrator.
Founder of BE OPEN Elena Baturina congratulated the winner: “Imile Wepener’ artwork has a touch of magic in it, and the visitors of BE OPEN Art appreciated that as much as we did. BE OPEN Art is proud to showcase the remarkable young talent we meet all over the world, and facilitate the artists in getting visibility and opportunity to have their say in the art and therefore affect lives of people who appreciate it. We applause all the featured artists and thank everyone who voted throughout the year.”
Aiming to showcase young talents, every month for the past five years, BE OPEN Art invited art enthusiasts to choose the best artist among those 20 exhibited in the gallery. The artist whose works gains the majority of votes throughout the year becomes the Artist of the Year.
Another great piece of news is that starting from this year, money grants, though smaller, will be awarded to all the monthly winners as well. This has become possible due to the Community Support Fund, the non-profit initiative the gallery launched in January 2024 with the hope to build a mechanism of mutual financial support. The initiative attempts to reinvigorate engagement and communication between collectors and featured artists.
The lucky recipients will be Dora Prévost, Lisa Einkemmer, Brian Connolly, Imile Wepener, Aigerim Asanbekova, Esinulo Chiamaka Praise, S.M.Khayyam, Amy Lewis, Akindele John, Ahsan Memon, Julia Bartolini and Yibei Liu.