Laure Prouvost wins women's art prize

French artist Laure Prouvost has won the Max Mara art prize for women for her film and installation work.She beat four others on the shortlist - Spartacus Chetwynd, Christina Mackie, Avis Newman and Emily Wardill.Prouvost, who has exhibited at galleries including Tate Britain and the ICA, was born in Lille but lives and works in London.Chair of the judges, Iwona Blazwick, described Prouvost's short films as "gripping".Prouvost's prize is a six-month residency in Italy, split between the British School in Rome and the Pistoletto Foundation in Biella."It will be of immense interest to see how literary, cinematic and visual cultures of Italy will impact on her work," Blazwick, director of London's Whitechapel gallery, said.The work that Prouvost produces while in Italy will be exhibited in the Whitechapel gallery in 2013 and at the Maramotti Collection in Reggio Emilia, Italy.Prouvost said: "It will be very interesting for me to work in another cultural environment... it is a real endorsement of what I do and I am very glad that the judges are supporting my practice."The biennial art prize, in collaboration with the Whitechapel gallery, was first awarded to film-maker Margaret Salmon for her work from 2005 to 2007.It was set up to promote and nurture female artists based in the UK.