LONDON.- London Art Fair has announced that Belgian artist Joachim Coucke, presented by NEST (P18b) has been awarded the £2,500 De’Longhi Art Projects Artist Award.

Coucke’s work focusses on the influences of the internet, concentrating on the invisibility of this virtual realm, as well as having a preoccupation with the visible components necessary for accessing that world. He studied at Hisk in Ghent (Higher Institute for Fine Arts) from 2011-12, now living and working in Waregem, Belgium, and is co-founder of DASH, an artist-run space in Kortrijk.

‘Fishing the Pool’ (2015), the prize-winning artwork, is on display with NEST in the Art Projects ‘Dialogues’ section of London Art Fair 2016 until Sunday 24 January. The work extends Coucke’s themes to cryptocurrency, by gathering ‘lightcoins’ (similar to Bitcoin) via an Ethernet cable connected to the Internet. The work demonstrates how our relationship with currency has transformed, necessitating an extended element of trust that such virtual money has legitimate value.

De’Longhi is the UK’s number one premium Italian coffee machine brand. With an ethos on style, design and innovation, De’Longhi has a proud affiliation with art in the UK, including working in partnership with some of the UK’s leading artists for the Macmillan De’Longhi annual art programme over the last nine years. De’Longhi also has a longstanding headline sponsorship of Pallant House Gallery in West Sussex, which houses one of the UK’s biggest collections of modern art outside of London.

The judging panel for the De’Longhi Art Projects Artist Award was carefully selected to include key art world figures from the areas of collecting, journalism, curating and education. The panel selected the winning artist on the merit of their art practice and work on display at the Fair. The judges were:

· Dea Vanagan – Chair, Macmillan De'Longhi Arts Programme
· JJ Charlesworth – Publisher, ArtReview
· Adrian George – Curator, Government Art Collection
· Rebecca Morrill – Senior Editor, Phaidon

Neil Jones, UK and Ireland Country Manager, De’Longhi, comments: ‘De’Longhi is proud to be supporting the Art Projects Artist Award at London Art Fair 2016. We pride ourselves on innovative, modern design, and we’re privileged to be able to reward an emerging contemporary artist such as Joachim Coucke, and support his work as he develops an exciting career in the art world.’

The Art Projects section, now in its twelfth year, has established itself as an important international platform for galleries to present the most stimulating contemporary practice. It features large-scale installations, solo shows and group displays, alongside a screening and performance programme.

Curated by Natasha Hoare, ‘Dialogues’ returns to Art Projects at London Art Fair, following two highly successful editions. Natasha is Associate Curator at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam. She is also completing work on ‘Curating Now’, a book of interviews with international curators to be published by Laurence King in 2015.