Pawel Althamer, who participated in documenta X (1997) and the Venice Biennale (2003), is the recipient of this year’s third edition of The Vincent van Gogh Bi-annual Award for Contemporary Art in Europe. The artist, who was born in 1967 in Warsaw, works in a variety of media, ranging from small, barely noticeable interventions in everyday situations to large-scale performances, such as the one in the context of which the artist lived in a tree house opposite the Foksal Gallery Foundation (2001-02). The human figure - mostly in the guise of a self-portrait executed in assorted organic materials - is a central element in his uncompromising sculptural work. In eight short portrait-films, which were filmed by Artur Zmijewski in 2003 and 2004, with titles like Peyote or LSD, Althamer is shown under the influence of various drugs, conveying the intensity of his experience and his broadened perception of the surroundings. Exhibition schedule: Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, September 10, 2004-January 17, 2005