The NEWART CentreIn collaboration with ARCOmadrid 2026 and Arts Connection Foundation, celebrated the 21st edition of the NEWART Award ARCO, an acquisition prize endowed with 30,000 euros that recognizes one or more works presented at the fair that significantly integrate new digital technologies or electronic art. The award had two protagonists, as it was awarded to Julia Scher for the work 'Avi Loeb', presented by the Esther Schipper gallery; and in the piece 'Movement', of Jonas Englert, presented by the Anita Beckers gallery, in a decision adopted by the specialized jury last March 5 at IFEMA Madrid.
This edition marked a new stage for the award, which adopted the denomination NEWART Award ARCO, giving continuity and renewing the legacy of the historic ARCO/BEEP Prize for Electronic Art. After more than two decades of trajectory, the award is consolidated as a pioneering initiative in the promotion and visibility of technological art within the international market.
The annual recognition has contributed to generate a specialized collection of technological and digital art that later gave rise to the NEWART Foundation and, more recently, the NEWART Centre in Reus. The project began in 2003 with the BEEP Technological Art Award and gained fresh momentum in 2006 with the ARCO/BEEP awards.
The 2026 edition was developed with the collaboration the Arts Connection Foundation, reinforcing the award’s international profile. The winning work will join the foundation’s collection and may be exhibited at the Miami New Media Festival, bringing the artist to global audiences. Meanwhile, the organisation’s collection maintains a presence in Madrid through an exhibition at the Museo La Neomudéjar, demonstrating the project’s commitment to international circulation and dissemination.
The play 'Avi Loeb', of Julia Scher, takes the title of a controversial American scientist known both for his trajectory as an astrophysicist and for his theories about the possible presence of an alien ship in the solar system. The piece reproduces a telescope equipped with different monitoring tools, such as sensors, cameras or amplifiers, and reflects on contemporary systems of observation and control. Scher is considered a pioneering artist in the field of new media, with a trajectory focused on the critical analysis of surveillance and control systems, and with work present in collections of several international museums.
On the other hand, the work 'Movement', of Jonas Englert, proposes a reflection on the times of contemplation of the work of art. In an era marked by the overabundance of images and the speed with which they circulate, the proposal of the artist invites to stop the look and rethink the relationship between the viewer and the artistic work, recovering the leisurely experience of observation.
Throughout the editions, the award has distinguished artists and projects that are part of the international story of technological art. In this sense, the continuity of the award has become a key tool to consolidate and professionalize this field, while reinforcing the position of Reus as a European benchmark in digital art and new technologies.
The winners were Julia Scher, for the play 'Avi Loeb', and Jonas Englert, for the piece 'Movement'.
