LUGANO, Switzerland, Jan. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- BE OPEN Art, the online art gallery established by Elena Baturina's BE OPEN think tank, is happy to announce the winner of their Artist of the Year title in 2025, and a number of other achievements.

Aiming to showcase young talents, every month for the past six years, BE OPEN Art has been inviting art enthusiasts to choose the best artist among those 20 exhibited in the gallery. The artist whose works gains the majority of votes throughout the year becomes the Artist of the Year.

And now, BE OPEN congratulates Anastazie Anderson, a Czech-British artist, whose large-scale canvases draw on a wide range of visual references—from home photography and social media to cinematic imagery and the legacies of modernist painting—to construct what might best be described as mediated fantasies. Anderson's work blurs the line between memory and imagination, authenticity and artifice, creating emotionally charged scenes that feel simultaneously familiar and unreal. Anastazie was https://art.beopenfuture.com/imile-wepenervoted the Artist of the Month back in September and now by the majority of votes becomes the Artist of the Year 2025 and an awardee of €1000!

Founder of BE OPEN Elena Baturina congratulated the winner: "­­­­­Transcending the age difference, Anastazie Anderson's artwork speaks to me of my childhood too through the simplicity and vividness of her painting. We are proud to showcase such remarkable young talent alongside all the other we meet all over the world, and facilitate the artists in getting visibility and opportunity to have their say in the art and therefore affect lives of people who appreciate it. We thank everyone who voted throughout the year and been supportive of BE OPEN Art's initiatives."

Elena Baturina's personal favourite in 2025 is Rio Skor, a Montreal-based artist, an architect who chose sculpture as her primary artistic focus. In 2023, she refined her skills in Carrara, Italy, studying hand-carving and expanding her practice to include marble. Rio will now receive a money prize of €500.

Another achievement in 2025 belongs to BE OPEN Art community whose support has allowed the foundation to accumulate more than €3500 in the BE OPEN Community Support Fund. The fund was established in January 2024 with the hope to build a mechanism of mutual financial support, and reinvigorate engagement and communication between collectors and featured artists.

This December, the proceeds will be distributed between the 12 monthly winners for the second time. In addition to the two above, the recipients of grants from the BE OPEN Community Support Fund this year are Amal Al-Nakhala (Gaza), Wouter van Wessel (Netherlands), Zohaib Mahar (Pakistan), Wen Tong (Canada), theKraftzone (Nigeria), Rizpah Amadasun (UK), Audrey Lukban (Philippines), Mia Delorés (USA), Noushin Delfani (Iran) and Victoria Martínez (Uruguay).

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SOURCE BE OPEN Foundation