Chora Council of the Metabolic Studio Announces the Winner of the Chora Prize

First Recipient, Artist Felicity Powell, to Receive Award On October 2, 2009
at Metabolic Studio

PANTELLERIA, Italy, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chora Council, which supports
the intangibles that foster creativity, is proud to announce the winner of the
first Chora Prize. Artist Felicity Powell will receive $50,000 to acknowledge
her fully realized project of merit and originality, an exhibition entitled
Medals of Dishonour, currently at the British Museum in London through
September 27, 2009. Felicity Powell is the conceptual progenitor of the
Medals of Dishonour exhibition, as well as one of the participating artists.
This exhibition brings new vitality and vision to an established institution
that is not normally associated with contemporary art practice.

The artwork of Felicity Powell, a sculptor based in London, has been seen
internationally; she has had solo exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum,
most recently, at Domobaal Gallery in London. She has received numerous awards
and honors for her work and was elected a member of the British Arts Medal
Society in 2002.

Medals of Dishonour reframes medals in the permanent collection of
the British Museum through presenting newly commissioned medals commemorating
moments of particular cultural dishonor by thirteen internationally recognized
contemporary artists. The exhibition elegantly displays the historical and the
contemporary medals together, giving us a long view through history that is
both intelligent and wry.

The exhibition, with its accompanying catalogue sponsored by Chora, has been
six years in the making. In 2003, Ms. Powell brought the idea forward, at a
time when the attack on the World Trade Center Towers was still sending shock
waves through the Western world, war was waging in the Gulf, and a recognition
of the gravity of climate change was growing around the globe. The exhibition
has been co-curated by Phillip Attwood, at the British Museum.

As Andrew Graham-Dixon recently wrote in the Daily Telegraph, "Collectively,
this is one of the most impressive recent bodies of work created by any artist
working today. Single handedly, Powell has revived an entire Renaissance
tradition - a rich and intricate tradition of subtle workmanship and
symbolism. . . bringing a dead language suddenly and startlingly back to
life. It is a remarkable achievement."

Background:
Chora is part of the Metabolic Studio, which also includes Farmlab, and is
directed by artist Lauren Bon. The Metabolic Studio is a direct
charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation, Los Angeles, California.
The term "chora" is ancient Greek for "vessel" and is used by Plato to refer
to that which precedes realization being more real than the thing itself. The
Chora Council is a society of artists, thinkers, scientists, musicians,
dancers, curators, and collectors who meet annually on the small remote island
of Pantelleria in the center of the ancient world.

SOURCE Annenberg Foundation

Camille Lowry, +1-310-209-4568, clowry@annenbergfoundation.org, or Liza
deVilla, +1-310-209-4571, lameen@annenbergfoundation.org, both of Annenberg
Foundation