The University of Applied Arts Vienna is delighted that several outstanding artists
have been honored with the prestigious Outstanding Artist Award 2025 from the Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture,
Media, and Sport (BMWKMS). Andreas Duscha wins in the category of artistic photography, Katrin Hornek in the category of media
art, Liesl Raff receives the award in the field of fine arts, and Petra Zimmermann was honored in the category of experimental
fashion design (jewelry art).
Andreas Duscha, a lecturer in the Photography Department, focuses his work
on the medium of photography in all its technical and aesthetic dimensions. Taking an experimental approach, he explores the
possibilities of analog photographic processes—including the chemical creation of mirror surfaces by applying layers of silver,
which refer to the materiality of classic black-and-white photography. Duscha also pursues fundamental questions of photography
thematically. His works examine, for example, the interplay of light and time, the visual recording of ecological phenomena
such as light pollution, and the representability of absence. In doing so, he has developed his artistic positions over many
years with great consistency and precision.
Visit Andreas Duscha's websiteKatrin
Hornek, who lives and works in Vienna, is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Site-Specific Art. Her artistic work
consistently involves collaborative, research-based practice in the fields of video, installation, architecture, and performance
in collaboration with scientists and artists. Her interdisciplinary works often address central phenomena of the Anthropocene,
including the industrial carbon cycle, petrocapitalism, and the long-term consequences of nuclear weapons testing. Using methods
such as synthetic image generation and public workshops, she opens up interdisciplinary spaces in which global interdependencies
can be reimagined.
Visit Katrin Hornek's websiteLiesl Raff, lecturer at the
University of Applied Arts Vienna, has developed her own sculptural language that relates physicality, material, and space.
Since 2016, she has been working intensively with latex—a transformable, tactile material that creates both social and performative
spaces in her sculptures and installations. Central elements of her practice are drapery, randomness, and the memory capacity
of materials. Light, touch, and other influences are stored in the material and made visible—as a poetic archive of movement,
time, and encounter.
More about Liesl RaffPetra Zimmermann is exceptionally dedicated to the history of jewelry. She transforms historical fragments—forms, materials,
and aesthetic concepts—not as mere quotations, but into visionary, radically contemporary designs. Her works build a bridge
between the past and the future, guided by principles of material and conceptual circularity. The jewelry objects open up
critical perspectives on value creation, memory, and recycling, showing that jewelry is not only meant to be worn, but also
to be reflected upon.
To Petra Zimmermann's websiteThe Angewandte warmly congratulates all artists on this award!
The
Outstanding
Artist Award is one of the most prestigious state awards in the Republic of Austria. It is aimed at artists of the
younger and middle generations who already have a convincing body of work and whose work is of supraregional artistic significance.
The prize is endowed with €10,000 and is awarded in around 14 art categories. The award is presented by independent juries,
which select from nominated candidates.
