TURIN.- Vadim Fishkin, presented by Galleria Gregor Podnar in the Back to the Future section, is the winner of the first edition of the Seletti Wonder Award, a new prize established through a collaboration between Seletti and Artissima, the international contemporary art fair taking place in Turin until 1 November.
In line with the company’s commitment to supporting artistic research and experimentation, the award aims to identify an artist whose work offers an original perspective on reality, through a language that reflects Seletti’s attitude towards what is transcultural, innovative and provocative, while remaining direct, accessible and communicative.
Vadim Fishkin (born in 1965 in Russia, lives and works in Ljubljana) was selected by a jury comprising artists Eva and Franco Mattes, Ilenia Paneghini, President of RETI Spa and a collector, radio presenter Marisa Passera, and art journalist and curator Maria Chiara Valacchi, with the following citation:
"The jury of the 2026 Seletti Wonder Award awards the prize to Vadim Fishkin, represented by Gregor Podnar Gallery, for the artwork Lighthouse.
In a fair that overwhelms us with visual stimuli, what captures our attention is the flickering of a light bulb. In an historical moment when the impact of artificial intelligence on our lives prompts us to question what remains profoundly human, art offers us an answer.
For years, Vadim Fishkin’s work has explored the relationship between technology and the fragility of life, observing and recording it with disarming simplicity. His research transforms everyday phenomena into extraordinary experiences, intertwining art and science with an unconventional perspective on reality, capable of revealing what often escapes us.
Here, science is at the service of poetry.
And perhaps it is precisely there, in this encounter, that something profoundly human pulses. Lighthouse is an artwork that, with a simple pulse of light, reminds us that wonder is something profoundly alive."
As the winner of the Seletti Wonder Award, the artist receives a grant, together with the opportunity to develop a special project with Seletti.
The nature of the project will deliberately remain secret for one year: the outcome of the collaboration will only be unveiled at Artissima 2027, on the occasion of the second edition of the Seletti Wonder Award.
“Creativity is the lifeblood of Seletti, so I can’t wait to start working with Vadim Fishkin,” says Stefano Seletti, the brand’s art director. “This award is also an interesting experiment because it introduces a new approach: usually, I’m the one who identifies the people I want to work with, but this time I’m really curious to see where the intuition of this wonderful jury will lead me.”
With a history spanning more than sixty years, marked by its ability to evolve and reinvent itself – from a company importing arts and crafts products from China to an internationally recognised design brand – Seletti today weaves together artistic vision, design and everyday icons, creating a distinctive universe in which sophisticated cultural references and pop culture, experimentation and accessibility constantly coexist. With the Seletti Wonder Award, the company is bringing this approach directly into Artissima for the first time, choosing the Turin fair as a privileged setting in which to observe and discover new creative visions.
