The Roland Prize for Art in Public Space 2025 is awarded to the artist collective Heike Mutter & Ulrich Gent.
Heike Mutter & Ulrich Genth have been working together in public space since 2003. They examine cities and specific sites, developing artistic interventions tailored to each situation. Their work explores questions such as how historical monuments function, how they can acquire (different) meanings today, and whether—and how—art can activate life in contemporary urban spaces. Their art provides commentary on the context in which it appears.
The methods employed by Heike Mutter & Ulrich Genth are stylistically diverse, ranging from architectural fragments to figurative references, from seemingly abstract forms to mirrors reflecting monuments. This approach consistently produces memorable images, such as their perhaps best-known recent work, the temporary installation Sleeping Horse at Vienna’s Reumannplatz (June 2023 – December 2024), which commented on all heroic monuments in the city with striking casualness, without the need for an explicitly critical gesture.
The aesthetic and conceptual work of Heike Mutter & Ulrich Genth has convinced the prize jury.
(Laudation of the jury, 2025)