The precious-metals trader Degussa presented this year’s «Young Generation Art Award» on Thursday evening at Berlin’s Hotel de Rome, according to a statement. From around 400 applications, five artists were selected for the shortlist before an expert jury chose London-based artist Ken Nwadiogbu as the winner.

The emerging-artist award was launched in 2024 together with the art magazine «Monopol» and targets artists at the beginning of their careers. Its goal is to support promising talent over the long term and raise international visibility.

Born in Lagos in 1994

The jury — consisting of Elke Buhr, Yilmaz Dziewior, and Maya Heckelmann — praised Nwadiogbu’s painting as technically virtuosic while also socially relevant. His hyperrealistic figures are combined with expressive backgrounds; he often portrays people from his personal environment and explores identity, migration, and contemporary Black culture.

The prize includes €10,000 as well as a solo exhibition at Frieze London in 2026. An international traveling exhibition is also planned.

«Technical sophistication, emotional depth»

Alongside Ken Nwadiogbu, the jury’s shortlist also featured Yuhao Chen, born in China in 1991, and German artists Lunita July Dorn, Arne Grashoff, and Emmélie Lempert.

Degussa CEO Christian Rauch presented the award: «I am impressed by the great artistic diversity and the individual expression found in the works of the shortlisted artists.» The winner «combines technical sophistication, emotional depth, and social relevance in his painting in a way that moved us all.»

The award forms part of Degussa Goldhandel’s broader cultural sponsorship activities, in which supporting art plays a central role.