Anna Ridler and Sofia Crespo win the Artists of the Year category of the Arab Bank Switzerland's Digital Art Prize 2025

Globe and Mail

2 days ago

The ABS Digital Art Prize was founded in 2023 as the first award by a major institution to recognize and celebrate on-chain digital artists.
Artist of the Year 2025 category has been won jointly by Anna Ridler and Sofia Crespo .
Emerging Artist of the Year 2025 is announced as Cezar Mocan .
GENEVA , June 12, 2025 /CNW/ -- The creative partnership between Anna Ridler and Sofia Crespo has won the Artist of the Year Category of the ABS Digital Art Prize. The winners have been selected by the judges to reflect the artistic journey and impact on digital art that has been created by these two established artists over the course of their careers. They will be offered significant networking and visibility opportunities with a solo show or an exhibition at a cultural institution within the next 12 months.
The Emerging Artist of the Year category has been won by Cezar Mocan for his artwork World Upstream. Cezar's piece will be included in the Arab Bank Switzerland: Art Collection.
The prize is the first of its kind to recognize digital artists. It's all star jury in the digital art world includes Alejandro Cartegena, an international leading curator for digital art; Eleonora Brizi founder of Breezy Art; Marlène Corbun, Head of Contemporary Art for LaCollection; Mimi Nguyen , PhD a lecturer at Central Saint Martins ; Rani Jabban, Managing Director of Arab Bank Switzerland and Sébastien Montabone l President of the third ABS Digital Art Prize and a leading curator of digital art working with museums and major collectors globally.
Rani Jabban, Managing Director of Arab Bank Switzerland, added: "As a patron of the arts, closely involved in the digital asset space, we are proud to establish a global art prize that supports and promotes digital artists whilst raising awareness of this fast-evolving art sector. The extraordinary quality of the beautiful and thought-provoking work shared with us by the competing artists and the rapidly growing interest in Digital Art from our younger clients all send a clear message: Digital Art is the future of Art."
Artist of the Year 2025
The winning collaboration between Anna Ridler and Sofia Crespo commenced in 2023 to combine analog photography and AI to explore the interplay between nature and technology. Well-known works include Snapshots Orchids (pictured) which employs AI-generated imagery to provoke reflection on our interactions with nature framed increasingly through lenses and screens.
Their work has been showcased at prominent venues, including Paris Photo 2023 and the Frieze Gallery in London , underscoring the partnership's impact on the digital art scene.
Anna Ridler is a British artist and researcher renowned for her pioneering work at the intersection of art, data, and machine learning. She is celebrated for creating visually rich works that examine the biases and ethical implications of these technologies. Ridler's work has been exhibited at prestigious institutions worldwide, including the V&A, the Barbican Centre, Centre Pompidou, HeK Basel , the ZKM Karlsruhe, and Ars Electronica.
Sofia Crespo is an Argentine artist based in Lisbon, Portugal , who explores the convergence of AI and biological systems. Her work examines humanity's evolving relationship with technology across time. She has exhibited globally at prestigious venues including Art Basel , Ars Electronica, the V&A and MAC Lyon.
Sebastien Montabonel, President of the Jury, commented: "Congratulations to our Artist of the Year prize winners, Anna, and Sofia. The explosion of creativity we are seeing in Digital Art makes this competition tougher every year, yet their contribution to the space stands out with concepts and execution that are not just visually elegant and emotive but also at the cutting edge of innovation."
Emerging Artist of the Year
Cezar Mocan wins the first ever Emerging Artist of the Year award with his work, World Upstream. Set in a fictional future World Upstream asks what remains once labour becomes obsolete due to AI. The work exists in a game engine and presents as a film which edits itself in real time and never ends.
Mocan is a Lisbon -based artist and computer programmer interested in the interplay between technology and the natural landscape. His work has already been displayed in top tier galleries around the world.
Sebastien Montabonel, President of the Jury, commented: "Congratulations to our Emerging Artist of the Year prize winner, Cezar Mocan . The international entrants and finalists in this category showcased the extraordinary new talent that is shaping the future of digital art, yet with work that creates an intersection of contemporary art, game design, and media theory to ask profound questions about our future relationship with technology, Cezar is a clear winner."
About the ABS Digital Art Prize - Third edition
Arab Bank Switzerland, a long-time patron of the arts, launched the world's first Digital Art Prize to recognize and celebrate Digital art and creators involved in the emergence of this emerging artistic (r)evolution in 2023.
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