PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE 2026
Since 2016, the PLAYGROUND exhibition series has offered young artists the chance to showcase their work for the first time in a professional gallery setting. By doing so, we are creating a platform that provides visibility and facilitates entry into the art world. As well as receiving prize money, winners get the chance to exhibit their work at renowned art fairs, such as Artissima in Turin, Italy's most important contemporary art fair. Works by Sophia Mainka (2023 and 2025) and Lotti Brockmann (2024) have already been exhibited there to great acclaim. Since 2019, the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE has been awarded by an independent jury of experts.
In 2026, a renowned panel of experts will once again decide on the winners:
Angela Stief, Director, Albertina Modern | Chief Curator for Contemporary Art since 1945, Albertina, Vienna
Dr Claudia Emmert – Director of the Kunstmuseum Bonn
Anna-Catharina Gebbers, Curator at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin
Benedikt Seerieder, Curator at the Museum Brandhorst in Munich
Dr Daniel Zamani, Artistic Director at the Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden
PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE 2019-2025
The winners of the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE 2025 are:
1st prize – Anima Goyal (Städelschule)
2nd prize – Gamze Palabiyik (Düsseldorf Art Academy)
3rd prize – Aaron Nora Kappenberger (Düsseldorf Art Academy)
In 2025, the following jurors awarded the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE: Saskia Höfler-Hohengarten (Director and Creative Director, KUBAPARIS), Mahret Ifeoma Kupka (Curator, Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main), Franziska Linhardt (Curator, Museum Brandhorst, Munich)
The winners of the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE 2024 are:
1st prize – Aerin Hong (Städelschule)
2nd prize – Vanessa Amoah Opoku (HGB Leipzig)
3rd prize – Rebecca Rothenborg (Städelschule)
In 2024, the following jurors awarded the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE: Katja Baudin (Director of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld), Katia Hermann (freelance art historian / author / curator / exhibition organiser), Amely Deiss (Kunstpalais Erlangen) and Dr Harriet Zilch (Director of the Kunsthalle Nürnberg).
The winners of the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE 2023 are:
1st prize - Lotti Brockmann (AdbK Vienna)
2nd prize - Sopo Kashakashvili (Städelschule)
In 2023, the following jurors awarded the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE:Nicolaus Schafhausen (curator and art manager), Franciska Zólyom (director of the Foundation Gallery for Contemporary Art Leipzig), Leonie Radine (curator at the Museum Bozen) and Dr Florence Thurmes (director of the Museum Ostwall at the Dortmunder U).
The winners of the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE 2022 are:
1st prize - Vincent Hannwacker (AdBK Munich)
2nd prize - Phạm Nguyễn Anh (Städelschule)
3rd prize - Bella Bram (UdK Berlin)
In 2022, the following jurors awarded the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE: Dr Nadia Ismail (Kunsthalle Gießen), Dr Damian Lentini (Haus der Kunst Munich), Bärbel Vischer (Museum of Applied Arts Vienna), Philipp Ziegler (ZKM Karlsruhe)
The winners of the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE 2021 are:
1st prize - Leyla Yenirce (HFBK Hamburg)
2nd prize - Umut Azad Akkel (UdK Berlin)
3rd prize - Aslı Özdemir (HfG Offenbach)
In 2021, the following jurors awarded the PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE: Kathrin Becker (KINDL Berlin), Linda Conze (Kunstpalast Düsseldorf), Dr Marcus Andrew Hurttig (MdbK Leipzig), Christina Lehnert (Portikus Frankfurt), Prof. Dr Alfred Weidinger (MdbK Linz)
Vanessa Amoah Opoku - PLAYGROUND ART PRIZE 2024