The moment all COMEL Award “Aluminium, Beneath the Surface” applicants and fans who have been following the competition for years have been waiting for, has arrived. After a long debate, the jury has selected the 13 finalist works that will be exhibited at the Spazio COMEL in Latina from October 26 to November 16, 2024.

It was a difficult choice, given the quality of the submitted artworks and the dedication shown by all the artists: about 300 works were submitted, mostly made in 2024 exclusively for the competition, from Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Ireland, Slovakia, and the Netherlands, as well as artists from South Africa, the U.S., China, and Korea who unfortunately, according to the call for entries, were not allowed to participate. Extremely satisfied, the COMEL Award organization would like to thank those who faced the challenge with aluminium with technical rigor and intimate involvement showing a truly appreciated attitude.

Therefore, this year also includes 13 different ways of working with aluminium, 13 different techniques, and 13 artistic universes that open up to go “ beneath the surface ” and tell something deep and personal, be it memories, sensations, or thoughts that touch very intimate chords of human feeling.

In this edition, Italy is represented from the North to the South, and Europe also strongly enters the shortlist of works deemed most interesting. The winner of the edition will take home a cash prize of 3500 euros and the opportunity to exhibit in a solo show in Latina. Visitors to the exhibition will also be protagonists by voting for their favorite works and decreeing the winner of the Audience Award.

The 13 finalists:

Sasho Blazes (Ohrid, Macedonia); Maria Elena Bonet (Sant’Elia Fiumerapido, FR, Italy); Massimo Campagna (Naples, Italy); Stefania De Angelis (Rome, Italy); Rebecca Diegoli and Francesca Vimercati (Pavia and Besana in Brianza, Italy); Gianluigi Ferrari (Altilia, CS, Italy), James Fausset Harris (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia/Carrara, MS, Italy); Robert Hromec (Bratislava, Slovakia); Rosy Losito (Bari/Latina, Italy); Dimitar Minkov (Pleven, Bulgaria); Gloria Rustighi (Massa, MS, Italy); Karolina Stefańska (Krakow, Poland); Achilles Vasileiou (Athens, Greece)

Jurors:

Giorgio Agnisola, jury president and artistic director of the award art critic and writer, professor emeritus of sacred art and cultural heritage at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy. He will be joined by experts in the field: Alessandro Beltrami, art historian and professional journalist for the daily newspaper ‘Avvenire’; Bruna Esposito, artist, researcher and lecturer in sculpture techniques at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome; Stefano Taccone, critic, curator, secondary school teacher of Art History, and PhD in Methods and Methodologies of Archaeological and Art Historical Research at the University of Salerno; and Maria Gabriella Mazzola representing COMEL Industries, the promoter and sole sponsor of the Award.